20th Century Journeys Through China

The following journeys through China from the 20th Century could give you inspiration for your own plans. It would be hard to recreate any of the itineraries, and certainly impossible to get the same experiences, but you could well use the general plan to get you to parts of China that have become important to you through your research.

Joseph Rock was an Austrian by birth but took up US citizenship after moving to Hawaii. After developing his botanical credentials there he left for Asia. For the first two years he travelled through south-east Asia in search of a tree said to be useful against leprosy but finally settled in Yunnan Province, China, in 1922 and for much of the next quarter 27 years.

Rock's botany may well have been surpassed by others in the region but his name will live on because his interests were much wider. Rock wrote extensively on the Naxi people and the accounts of his travels in the remote mountains bordering Tibet are said to have inspired James Hilton to write his book Lost Horizon (of Shangri La fame).

Ella Maillart was a Swiss sportswoman, adventuress and writer. Her story is complex so we only pick it up with her epic journey through China that was published with the title above.

Leaving Beijing in February 1935, Ella and her companion, Peter Fleming (see below), set out to see if they could reach the far west of modern day China - then known as Turkestan - a land which had all but disappeared off the communications radar.

The pair had permission to travel only as far as Koko Nor ('Blue Lake', now Qinghai Lake). Their bold plan was to then head off across the Tibetan Plateau on a variant of the southern branch of the ancient Silk Road until Kashgar. They then planned to cross the Karakorum Mountains and enter Indian Kashmir.

With geography and the military authorities against them the trip took some seven months. Few modern travellers would welcome any of the hardships described but most will enjoy this snapshot from history.

Peter Fleming's journey in China is described above. His fascinating account gives an insight into the politics of the region, as well as of China, just before the great events further east.

Anyone interested in the developments that lead to the rise to power of the Communist Party of China will find the writings of Edgar Snow of huge importance. Snow's first journey through China began in 1928; his last was in 1970.. Snow travelled throughout China during the most significant years, often as guest of the communist elite - including Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai.

Snow's writing has often been criticised as biased (or at least uncritical) and so the modern reader with hindsight may well take issue with the coverage of some stories - but it must be said that Snow's access to the powers of the time makes for impressive reading.

Joseph Needham was a Cambridge academic sent to China during the Second World War on a mission to co-operate on a number of scientific issues. Needham soon discovered a wealth of scientific creativity unknown in the west and he began collecting as much information as he could. He undertook three major journeys through China, often at great personal risk given that much was under the control of the hostile Japanese.

Needham's work, Science And Civilization In China, records the huge range of inventions and discoveries from China's past. The work of cataloguing still continues. Much of this is only of interest to specialists. Simon Winchester's book, on the other hand, is a very readable account of Needham's complex life and travels in China.

Nixon's visit to China in 1972 marked a huge change in diplomatic policies between China and the US. At the height of the Cultural Revolution and with the Vietnam War still an issue, this was no easy task. The groundwork took some two years and involved elaborate maneuverings. Secret talks were followed by an invitation for a table tennis match which earned the more impressive title of Ping Pong Diplomacy. Henry Kissinger then made a preliminary visit. This was kept secret through a remarkable deception.

President Nixon did not travel extensively through China but his visit certainly paved the way for the many western travellers that are now able to.

You can read more about Nixon's journey through China and the diplomatic developments with archived material from the National Security Archive here

Paul Theroux made his name recording his travels by train. This book covers his year of journeys through China by rail, and the characters and events that allow him to develop an understanding of a country in flux. Any one of Theroux's 40 rail trips could well inspire your own.