Ultimate Journey

Richard Bernstein, Time magazine’s first Beijing bureau chief and currently a New York Times book critic, has written a profoundly original account of a journey that is as much a spiritual and intellectual odyssey as it is a physical one.

In 629, the great Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang set out across Asia in search of the Ultimate Truth. At the end of his arduous sixteen-year journey, he wrote an account that is considered a classic of Chinese literature. In 1998, Bernstein set out to retrace the Hsuan Tsang’s route. It was a trip beset with political and cultural difficulties. Ultimate Journey is a fascinating juxtaposition of the two journeys, a marvelous travelogue that is inspiring.

“Wonderful…. Deserves to become a classic in its own right.”—The New York Times Book Review

“An engaging read, a trek that rewards with its richly tapestried background and its refreshing pauses for thoughtful historical and aesthetic insight.”—Los Angeles Times