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Thomas Bird was living in Southern China when he decided to explore the country by train and write a book about it. He first attempts to trace the steps of Bruce Chatwin after reading an article of his in the New York Times, but eventually decides to just go with the flow, traveling far and wide on China’s old railway during the pre-Covid years 2014-2019. He sought out the old lines and trains and chronicled the people he met along the way to tell readers what China is like today. The result is Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China.

Books and authors included in the discussion

Riding the Iron Rooster (1988), by Paul Theroux

Forgotten Kingdom: Nine Years in Yunnan 1939-48 by Peter Goullart (1955)

The Great Walk of China: Travels on Foot from Shanghai to Tibet (2010), by Graham Earnshaw

Bruce Chatwin and Joseph Rock.