China

order:
Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff's "Journal of Three Voyages along the Coast of China"
3.8

Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff

Is this guy a missionary or is he really a spy?

Reinhold Messner's "Everest Solo"
6.4
Himalayas

Reinhold Messner

Did the best mountaineer ever write the best book about mountaineering ever?

Jehan de Mandeville's "The Travels"
4.2
Iraq

Jean de Mandeville

Why is it so much fun to read Medieval travel stories that are at least partly untrue?

Sven Hedin's "In The Heart Of Asia"
5
China

Sven Hedin

Are we looking at a career-obsessed explorer or at a blueprint for Indiana Jones?

Rob Gifford's "China Road"
4.2

Rob Gifford

Are the errors in this book due to poor editing or is this an expert who doesn’t know his craft?

Ji Xianlin's "Wandering Around The World"
5.8
China

Ji Xianlin

Are these travel memoirs worth reading, or has censorship ruined them?

Stanley Stewart's "Frontiers of Heaven"
4
China

Stanley Stewart

Is China really that quirky, or do we sometimes just want things to be a certain way?

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta's "The Travels"
4.2
Saudi Arabia

Ibn Battuta

Did conservative ethics turn this great adventure story into such a slow read?

Mildred Cable's "The Gobi Desert"
5
China

Mildred Cable

Is this just a book about three ladies taking it slow, or is it an epic adventure?

Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky's "Mongolia and the Land of the Tanguts"
4.2
China

Nikolai Przhevalsky

Is this too much racism even for an imperialist?

Ella Maillart's "Forbidden Journey"
5.8
China

Ella Maillart

If Fleming is the more gifted writer, then why is this book better than his?

Peter Fleming's "News from Tartary"
6
China

Peter Fleming

Would a little less irony have made this book even better?

Fernão Mendes Pinto's "Pilgrimage"
5
India

Fernão Mendes Pinto

If this is one of the classics of Portuguese literature, why is it such a slow read?

Johann Christian Hüttner's "News from the journey of the British delegation through China"
5

Johann Christian Hüttner

Why is this missionary’s tale still so refreshing?