SOLDES
Jusqu'à -70% sur une sélection d'articles*
Dernière sortie
Sweet and Sour: Off the beaten track travels through China during 1981
This, my China travelogue, has been a very long time coming - - 44 years in fact since I first wrote it. I have always been passionate about China and its people. It is a passion I have had since I was a child, however it was fuelled by my stay in China now a long time ago, working in Shanghai from 1981 to 1982. At that time, there were 50 of us in the business community and over 12, 000, 000 Shanghainese - you'll have to wait for my next book to find out how this extraordinary population imbalance panned out for me.
During my time in Shanghai, I became very determined that before I left China, I would explore some of the more remote Chinese cities that lay towards the west of the country - far away from the eastern seaboard I was familiar with. This part of China was much less frequented by the guided foreign tour parties, which were heavily controlled under the auspices of the China Travel Service (or CTS as it was known).
This incidentally was the only way for outsiders to visit China at the time. Having worked in Shanghai as a "Foreign Expert", at the end of my stay the Chinese authorities granted me special permission to travel independently to pre-agreed cities in China, a very unique opportunity at that time. Thus, in late spring of 1981, I headed out on my adventures, on my own and armed with only a smattering of Chinese to aid my way.
My journey by train started in the capital of Beijing to the north and a month later, I finished some five thousand kilometres away in Guangzhou to the far south. It turned out to be the greatest adventure for me, in terms of the people I met, the physical and mental challenges I faced, and the great variety of experiences I was fortunate enough to enjoy. It was beyond all doubt the perfect grand finale that I had hoped for, to complete my unique adventures in the Middle Kingdom as China was known in ancient times. I do hope you enjoy reading my China travelogue as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Stephen Lyttelton
During my time in Shanghai, I became very determined that before I left China, I would explore some of the more remote Chinese cities that lay towards the west of the country - far away from the eastern seaboard I was familiar with. This part of China was much less frequented by the guided foreign tour parties, which were heavily controlled under the auspices of the China Travel Service (or CTS as it was known).
This incidentally was the only way for outsiders to visit China at the time. Having worked in Shanghai as a "Foreign Expert", at the end of my stay the Chinese authorities granted me special permission to travel independently to pre-agreed cities in China, a very unique opportunity at that time. Thus, in late spring of 1981, I headed out on my adventures, on my own and armed with only a smattering of Chinese to aid my way.
My journey by train started in the capital of Beijing to the north and a month later, I finished some five thousand kilometres away in Guangzhou to the far south. It turned out to be the greatest adventure for me, in terms of the people I met, the physical and mental challenges I faced, and the great variety of experiences I was fortunate enough to enjoy. It was beyond all doubt the perfect grand finale that I had hoped for, to complete my unique adventures in the Middle Kingdom as China was known in ancient times. I do hope you enjoy reading my China travelogue as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Stephen Lyttelton
