Gretchen Mae Fitkin - The Great River - 1922

The book The Great River (1922) by Gretchen Mae Fitkin is a travelogue about a journey along the Chinese Yangtze River – the longest river in Asia. The book describes a voyage the author made around 1921 along various towns and regions along this river.

The book tells the story of a boat trip on the Yangtze from the coast to the inland of China. Fitkin describes:
the life on the river
the cities and villages along the banks
the nature and the landscape
political and social conditions in China in the early 20th century
The journey passes, among other places, through Wuhu, Jiujiang and Yichang and toward Chongqing (at the time often called Chungking).
It is thus partly a travelogue, partly a cultural observation of China in a period of political unrest.
The author
Gretchen Mae Fitkin was an American traveler and writer who stayed in China. Her perspective is that of a Western visitor in 1920s China.
The book also contains an introduction by the British naturalist Arthur de Carle Sowerby, who lived in China and was known as a writer and publisher. Illustrations
A striking element of the book is that it is richly illustrated with photographs by the famous photographer Donald Mennie. The images show, among others:
riverside landscapes
Chinese cities along the Yangtze
ships and river life
The first edition also includes maps in the endpapers to show the route of the journey.

The book is interesting because it provides a snapshot of China shortly after:
the end of the Qing Dynasty (1911)
the early years of the Chinese Republic
Fitkin describes, for example, traces of violence and political unrest in some cities, which shows how turbulent the period was.
Bibliographic info
Year: 1922
Place of publication: Shanghai
Publisher: North-China Daily News & Herald / Kelly & Walsh
Length: about 153 pages
Genre: travelogue / geographical and cultural description