The reveries and remembrances contained in the travel diaries of John Blofeld cover every aspect of his life in China - from visits to opium dens and sing-song houses to sojourns in the Buddhist monasteries and Taoist hermitages of China's sacred mountains. Here is a vivid glimpse of “old” China as it existed in elegance and grace for three thousand years before China's Communist Revolution. Originally written in Chinese for a Chinese audience, Blofeld's travel diary reveals a rare, uncensored view of pre-communist China to which few westerners have been exposed. John Blofeld (1913–1987) was an eminent sinologist and humanist who authored numerous books on Buddhism and Taoism, including The Zen Teachings of Huang Po, Taoist Mystery and Magic, and a translation of the I Ching, the Book of Change. He lived in China from 1932 until 1949 when the Communist Revolution forced him to relocate to Thailand, where he remained for the rest of his life. Daniel Reid, translator, met and became close friends with Blofeld at his home in Bangkok during the last year of his life. After Blofeld's death, Reid lived and worked in Blofeld's own study translating this, his last work, into English. · Paints an intimate portrait of the grace and refinement of ancient Chinese civilization · Originally written in Chinese for Chinese readers, revealing a rare glimpse of Blofeld's private Chinese side and uncensored views · The last book by the great English sinologist, translator of the I Ching and author of Taoist Mystery and Magic