In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, David Moser and I talk with journalist and travel writer Thomas Bird about his latest book, The Harmony Express.
Entering an uncertain new chapter of his life several years ago, Bird decided to embark on an exploration of the People’s Republic of China via the country’s vast web of railroad lines. In the spiritual footsteps of travel writers such as Paul Theroux (Riding the Iron Rooster and The Great Railway Bazaar), Bird took the trains as his trajectory, exploring and documenting the diverse ethnic, geographical, linguistic, and culinary worlds of China by rail.
With solid Mandarin skills, an intrepid, often foolhardy willingness to immerse himself into unfamiliar surroundings, and an ethnographer’s voracious intellectual appetite for detail, Bird gives the reader vivid accounts of the diverse places and personalities he encounters in his journey.
We also talk about his impetus for writing the book, the evolution of train travel from the 绿皮火车 lüpi huoche “green trains” to the new sci-fi-style bullet trains, and what has changed – and not changed – in China.