Alone Through China & Tibet

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In 1985, in time for Chinese New Year and all the accompanying celebrations, Helena Drysdale arrived in Canton and spent the next five months working her way from the lush hills of Hainan Island, across the wastelands of the north west to Tibet, and thence to Nepal. Her experiences along the way range from the hilarious to the macabre: hailed as a visiting VIP in the remote hills of Hainan; taking part in a spectacular Lantern Festival; witnessing the dawn Sky Burial in Tibet. Exploring back streets, markets, temples, on bicycles, buses and trains, she travelled and lived with ordinary people - teachers, sailors, black marketeers, monks - making friends and visiting their families. The result is a vivid and authentic picture of life in China, as it emerged from the rigorous doctrines of Chairman Mao.