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    From San Francisco to Hunza: A Journey of Self Discovery and Giving Back

    Written by: Dr. Dushka H. Saiyid
    Posted on: June 25, 2017 | | 中文

    Elizabeth Kanaan with friends and children of Altit Village in Hunza Valley

    When a restaurant surfaced in a small neighborhood market in Islamabad, it drew a clientele keen to experience its Hunza inspired cuisine. Small, with a rustic ambience, and pictures of wizened faces and forts framed on its walls, it was different from the eating joints mushrooming all over the city. Overseeing the whole operation was this young outgoing American, ensuring the quality of food and at pains to ensure customer satisfaction.

    Regional cuisine is a novelty for Islamabad, but food from the relatively remote Hunza, was unusual. The founder and moving spirit behind Wild Thyme is Elizabeth Whitney-Kanaan, an American of mixed parentage. Her father was the son of a Pakistai diplomat, and of Mahmooda Salim Khan, a famous social worker and daughter of Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, the Prime Minister of Punjab in British India. Her own mother was an American model of Scottish-French extraction, and her father, a marketing executive. Her parents’ marriage was the result of a chance encounter in a New York office-building elevator.

    From San Francisco to Hunza - Wild Thyme Restaurant

    Wild Thyme Restaurant

    Elizabeth first came to Pakistan as a child when her father was working for Pakistan Tobacco in Karachi, but he moved back to the US after a few years, and she grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. When her husband got a chance to work in Pakistan at the end of 1999, they seized it and moved to Islamabad. It was also an opportunity to bring her now seriously ailing father back from the USA, and take care of him. After her father passed away at the time of 9/11, she sold the small piece of land that he had owned, and built a school for the poor children in Palandri, Azad Kashmir dedicated to his name. Struggling to fix a bad back and fill the vacuum in her life by her father’s death, she took to exercise with a vengeance. It was during her many hiking trips into the mountains, and a cycling trip from Gilgit to the Khunjerab Pass on the Karakoram Highway, that she developed a passion for the northern areas.

    From San Francisco to Hunza - An old picture of a local villager

    An old picture of a local villager

    However, she discovered that the stunning beauty of the mountains, valleys and rivers of the area were in sharp contrast to the widespread poverty and underdevelopment. As 2002 drew to a close, Elizabeth got involved with rural development, and describes it as the most amazing period of her life. She recalls animatedly how she used the colouring and drawing talents of the children of Shimshal, a village in the Hunza district, to raise money for books and expand the school building. When the community realized that she was a doer and not just a talker, their list of demands grew, and they asked for bokharees or stoves, critical for their survival in higher altitudes. She helped re-engineer the stove with the help of BASIP, (Building and Construction Improvement Program), and also worked with the Water and Sanitation Extension Project (WASEP), also of the Agha Khan Foundation. Since Shimshal is remote and one of the most isolated communities, it took some persuading of WASEP to make Shimshal a priority village, and she raised the supplemental funding required from AUSAID. One day while walking on a trail, she bumped into an old woman who recognized Elizabeth and started crying, an emotional outpouring at how Elizabeth had changed her life. It was one of the most rewarding moments of her life.

    Elizabeth describes Fairy Meadows as what she envisaged heaven would be like, but poverty co-existed with the stunning natural beauty, and the sight of children begging was a poignant reminder of that harsh reality. She visited the area over a five-year period, from 2002-2006, and helped build a school, a first aid post and a house for teachers. She brought a doctor from Australia who visited each household and taught them basic hygiene. They called her a fairy! She was also planning to build a school for environment and mountaineering, when the extremist propaganda against her presence began to vitiate the atmosphere, and prudence demanded that she leave.

    From San Francisco to Hunza - Fairy Meadows

    Fairy Meadows (source: Ibn Rizvi on Flickr)

    Many years later, she brought a friend along to Hunza to see for herself how she could modernize and market the local crafts. They were sitting in the Kha Basi Café in the Altit Fort of Hunza and partaking of the food when the idea struck her that instead of opening a Lebanese restaurant in Islamabad, why not one with Hunza inspired cuisine, and thus was born the Wild Thyme restaurant in early 2017. However, Elizabeth’s plans for starting the Wild Thyme Adventure Tours to the northern areas would have to wait till her Lebanese brother-in-law and partner in Wild Thyme, Peter Kanaan, got his work visa and took over the management of the restaurant.

    From San Francisco to Hunza - Zeeshan Khan, Head Waiter, and Sadia Shahid, Head Chef

    Zeeshan Khan, Head Waiter, and Sadia Shahid, Head Chef

    It was a fascinating journey of a woman who had re-discovered her roots and heritage and struggled to give back to the country of her father. Her parting words resonate long after the interview is over: “This country should be the gem of this region. But it has been mismanaged by people who are so self-serving”.


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021