Retracing mountains of spirited exploration
New book meticulously re-creates the 34-year-long journey of a geographer 400 years ago, bringing ink illustrations, research and highlights from his own travelogue into a comprehensible text, Yang Yang reports.
By Yang Yang | China Daily | Updated: 2026-07-20 09:47
Chen Yihuan, general manager of China National Geography Books, explains that the book aims to transform the classic work from 400 years ago into a travel text that is "readable, appreciable, and referable". It is designed to be readable with selected chapters on famous mountains featuring introductions and modern translations; appreciable, with artist Yushan retracing Xu's routes to create over 60 landscape illustrations; and referable, by connecting Xu's paths with today's renowned mountain sites.
In 1618, Xu embarked on a journey along the Yangtze River, stopping in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, to explore Lushan Mountain, Baiyue Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, and Jiuhua Mountain in today's Jiangxi and Anhui provinces. His experiences during this trip are detailed in his travelogue, Diary of a Visit to Lushan Mountain.
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