Book description
Seven months and twenty-three agreeably ill-assorted vessels are what were required to transport Gavin Young, by slow boat, from Piraeus to Canton. His odyssey teemed with excitement, adventure and colour. Gavin Young's account memorably distils the people, places, smells, conversations, ships and history of the places he encountered in what…
Why read it?
1 author picked Slow Boats to China as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book and its sequel were an early read in my love affair with travel writing–I love the concept of slow travel by unconventional means, and I love all the descriptions along the way.
I first read this before I had ever traveled to China or, indeed, anywhere in the East, so it was one factor in developing an interest and love of the region. Though the journeying is slow it is written in a way that I regard as a real page-turner.
From Patrick's list on feeding your lust for travel.
If you love Slow Boats to China...
The Rosewood Penny
2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
Want books like Slow Boats to China?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Slow Boats to China.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,343
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Slow Boats to China, you might also like...
Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman
Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.
A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…
Malcolm Before X
Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…
