Night Train to Turkistan

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“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 . . .”