Luigi Barzini (2) (1874–1947)

Pekin to Paris is the story of the five-car automobile race from Pekin (Beijing) in 1907. The book is the story of the experiences of the Italian car and its crew.

The race was proposed by the Le Matin newspaper and efforts were immediately made to identify a possible route from Pekin to Paris as well as identify places along the route where provisions for the men and cars could set out.

A route was identified and agreed to but what one must remember this was 1907 and there were no real show more roads spanning the roughly 9300 miles between Pekin and Paris. There were overgrown paths, there were muddy tracks (lots of them), there were narrow mountain passes whose surface consisted of piles rock which were impossible to drive over (they had to hire a gang of workers to push and pull the car over these “roads”), there was sand (Gobi Desert) and rocks, overgrown abandon rudimentary roads with decaying wooden bridges, bogs, and swamps. From time to time, they were forced to drive on the Trans-Siberian railroad tracks and take advantage of railroad bridges to get across some rivers. It was only during the very last part of the race that the cars encountered paved, engineered roads.

The end result of this kind of “road” system can be imagined – repeatedly sinking into deep mud which required the use of levers, jacks, teams of oxen or horses and help from many people they encountered along the way to get the car out of the mire and back on solid ground. They had an abandon bridge collapse on them. It was only luck that kept them from injury and it was a group of locals who helped them get the car out of the wreck of the bridge and back on the road. They endured endless days of rain, heat, and dust. The car had no fenders so traveling through mud meant they were literally covered in mud by the end of a day’s run. Dry and dusty meant ending the day covered in dust with the dust getting into everything including the food.

They passed countless telegraph offices and telegraph repeater offices along the route. The individuals manning these posts noted their passing and telegraphed the information to the next station down the line. As they came to various villages and towns, they were either met with waves and smiles or with suspicious looks – which one depended on whether or not the town or village had an operating telegraph and an operator who had made it a point to spread the news of their coming.

Of equal interest to the descriptions of the driving were the descriptions of the many total strangers they met and the aid these people provided at every turn. In addition to digging/pulling the car out of ma natures traps of mud/sand/swamps there were people who offered food and shelter when circumstances forced a stop far from supplies or hotels, there was the wheelwright in the middle of nowhere who, by hand, manufactured a new wooden spoked wheel to replace the left front which had disintegrated, there were various individuals/local officials who not only guided them through small towns/villages to the correct paths/tracks but insisted on remaining with them until satisfied they were safely going in the right direction, and on and on.

Barzini writes well. His descriptions of the trip and the encounters/interactions with people along the way give the reader a real sense of “being there”. Because he was a newspaper reporter he took many pictures along the way. He presents 97 of them and they serve to illustrate aspects of the trip/people/assistance as it is being described in the text on the adjacent pages.

I found the book an interesting read and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in history. show less

long-distance motor adventure

transcontinental rallying, adventure

Pre-1910