In Xanadu - A Quest

When the Karakoram Highway reopened in 1986 it was again possible to use the mountain road linking Pakistan and China and so to complete an overland trip from Jerusalem to Xanadu for the first time in centuries. The fresh-faced William Dalrymple immediately took up the challenge of following in Marco Polo’s footsteps while still studying at Cambridge to reach Outer Mongolia’s Shangdu, the current name of the town that once contained Kublai Khan’s summer palace, made famous in Coleridge’s poem. By crossing the width of Asia Dalrymple and his companions met with forgotten roads, unexpected hospitality in villages and cities, and improbable escapades. The story of the trip is told with exhilarating wit and delight to produce an articulate book that went on to win the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and the Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award.