“An utterly charming and engaging travel book that offers vivid portraits of unusual corners of Asia, told by a skilled raconteur whose eyes were open wide.” —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewWarned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for an entire year, Tiziano Terzani—a vastly experienced Asia correspondent—took what he called “the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.”Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Geography expanded under his feet. He consulted soothsayers, sorcerers, and shamans and received much advice—some wise, some otherwise—about his future. With time to think, he learned to understand, respect, and fear for older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. He rediscovered a place he had been reporting on for decades. And reinvigorated himself in the process.

"这是一本完全迷人和引人入胜的旅行书，为亚洲不寻常的角落提供了生动的画像，由一位熟练的说书人讲述，他的眼睛睁得很大。-洛杉矶时报》书评香港算命先生警告他不要冒险飞行一整年，Tiziano Terzani--一位经验丰富的亚洲记者，迈出了他所谓的 "进入未知世界的第一步"。. . . 结果，这是我所度过的最不寻常的一年。他通过步行、乘船、乘车、乘汽车和火车旅行，访问了缅甸、泰国、老挝、柬埔寨、越南、中国、蒙古、日本、印度尼西亚、新加坡和马来西亚。地理环境在他脚下扩大了。他咨询了占卜师、巫师和萨满，得到了许多关于他的未来的建议--有些是明智的，有些则是其他方面的。有了思考的时间，他学会了理解、尊重和敬畏古老的生活方式和信仰，这些都受到了西方现代性的粗暴形式的威胁。他重新发现了一个他已经报道了几十年的地方。并在这个过程中重振了自己。