Seth writes like a song. Taking time and money off from the Standford University, Seth stays in China for 2 years. He decides to take a rather long, hungry, cold rounadabout hitchhiking trip that takes him into the world’s least known areas. I enjoyed his comparisons between India and Chinat is surprising to see how rarely interactions have occurred between these nations historically despite being neighbors. Seth captures especially the tension between the majority Han and minority Uighars, mogols and the Tibetans.