Bookbot

Night Train to Turkistan

Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road

Paramètres

  • 237pages
  • 9 heures de lecture

En savoir plus sur le livre

“From the beginning, it was a silly idea. This, of course, I liked.” Thus begins an irreverent Chinese travel tale by Stuart Stevens. In late 1986, Stevens, a young political consultant and writer, invites three friends on a 5,000-mile quest along China’s Ancient Silk Road, aiming to retrace a journey made in 1936 by eccentric British writer Peter Fleming. The companions he chooses—a triathlete, a Yale kung fu expert, and a tall female rower—are more amusing than practical. Only one, Mark Salzman, author of Iron & Silk, has been to China before and is uncertain about returning. This unlikely group sets out from Beijing, determined to follow Fleming’s route to Kashgar, the fabled capital of Chinese Turkistan, known for its vast, desolate Takla Makan desert, which translates to “you go in, but you do not come out.” Battling the extreme cold of winter, they traverse China by trains, donkey carts, bicycles, and memorable buses. Often confined in monolithic Russian-built hotels, they navigate the complexities of Chinese bureaucracy while surviving on lamb fat and cold noodles. Filled with unforgettable characters and humorous scenes, this journey offers a high-spirited romp through a land where travelers are greeted with “Comrades, we welcome you to your journey. Please do not spit everywhere . . .”

Achat du livre

Night Train to Turkistan, Stuart Stevens

Langue
Année de publication
1988
Reliure
(souple)
Nous vous informerons par e-mail dès que nous l’aurons retrouvé.

Modes de paiement

Personne n'a encore évalué .Évaluer

Titre
Night Train to Turkistan
Sous-titre
Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road
Langue
Anglais
Publié
1988
Format
souple
Pages
237
ISBN10
0871131900
ISBN13
9780871131904
Séries
Description
“From the beginning, it was a silly idea. This, of course, I liked.” Thus begins an irreverent Chinese travel tale by Stuart Stevens. In late 1986, Stevens, a young political consultant and writer, invites three friends on a 5,000-mile quest along China’s Ancient Silk Road, aiming to retrace a journey made in 1936 by eccentric British writer Peter Fleming. The companions he chooses—a triathlete, a Yale kung fu expert, and a tall female rower—are more amusing than practical. Only one, Mark Salzman, author of Iron & Silk, has been to China before and is uncertain about returning. This unlikely group sets out from Beijing, determined to follow Fleming’s route to Kashgar, the fabled capital of Chinese Turkistan, known for its vast, desolate Takla Makan desert, which translates to “you go in, but you do not come out.” Battling the extreme cold of winter, they traverse China by trains, donkey carts, bicycles, and memorable buses. Often confined in monolithic Russian-built hotels, they navigate the complexities of Chinese bureaucracy while surviving on lamb fat and cold noodles. Filled with unforgettable characters and humorous scenes, this journey offers a high-spirited romp through a land where travelers are greeted with “Comrades, we welcome you to your journey. Please do not spit everywhere . . .”