Wakefield press, Adelaide, 1991. Softcover. map (illustrator). Reprint. Second impression. Size: Mid Sized Paperback ( 7พ" - 9พ" tall ). [6], 296, [2] pages, in illustrated softcover binding very slight stamp on top edge of book and an inscrption on flyleaf. No other damage to detail. Illustrator: map. The author set out from Australia to search for a city built by the Romans in China 1300 years before Marco Polo travelled - a city named Li-jien, that just happen to be located in a closed military zone. This is the story of that search, and the finding of it, now a national monument. David Harris has discovered the remains of a Roman city in the heart of the Gobi desert. His interest was aroused by Horace's Odes, and by the papers of Professor Homer Hasenpflug Dubs, Professor of Chinese at Oxford University, relating to the city. Harris set out from Australia to search for Li-jien, a city built by the Romans in China 1300 years before Marco Polo entered Cathay. Harris was alone and an amateur; he neither spoke the language nor understood the Chinese way of doing things; furthermore, he had precious little money. The Chinese bureaucracy instinctively mistrusted him both as a western messenger claiming special knowledge of Chinese history and as one who wished to enter a closed military zone. Every step on the road to Li-jien surprised David Harris. It led him to priceless friends, bizarre acquaintances, a woman he loves, a massacre of innocents, and the site that has been declared a national monument. Every step on the road to Li-jien surprised David Harris. It led him to priceless friends, bizarre acquaintances, a woman he loves, a massacre of innocents, and the site that has been declared a national monument.
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