Oasis prohibidos

The China of 1935 has not yet become a communist republic. Since the 1911 revolution this country has been ruled by the Kuomintang, which tries to maintain its unity. To the east, the Japanese occupy Manchuria; to the south, the communists wage a war of conquest, and to the west, Muslim populations continue to rebel against the central power. Despite these internal struggles and the Chinese government's ban on foreigners, the traveler Ella Maillart leaves from Beijing with the intention of crossing China from east to west. She seeks to reach the "forbidden" oases of Xinjiang, the cradle of a millenary culture of Iranian origin, and from there to Kashmir through the mountains of the Pamir and the Karakorum. Ella Maillart travels clandestinely through China, overcoming great challenges and making contact with some Central Asian peoples (Mongols, Turks, Kyrgyz...). She is a curious traveler, always ready to discover new customs and enjoy the richness of other cultures. She faces with patience and cunning the difficulties of the way while she transmits to us the pleasure of traveling through remote and still unknown regions, without sparing neither the courage nor the freshness of her feat. She is the spirit of one of the great nomads of the twentieth century, whose philosophy of travel will be extended to other of her stories. A wonderful story that bears witness to a bygone era, and shows us that true knowledge is obtained by directing our steps towards unknown places with courage and intelligence.