Arriving Before Midnight Author: Liu Zichao Publisher: Wenhui Publishing House

When you can't go out, you need a travel book.

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The biggest uncertainty in travel is not arrival, but how to arrive.

After all, travel or life is a process of figuring out how to arrive again and again.

"Liu Zichao is the most outstanding travel writer of this generation." - Xu Zhiyuan

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☆ The annual travel literature "The Lost Satellite" is the first work of Liu Zichao, who reshapes the meaning of travel literature and confirms himself on the road

☆ Return to yesterday's world, find lost souls, listen to the stories of ordinary people, and record the glory and suffering of the European continent

☆ A spiritual journey to escape from the burden and find the meaning: to reach the abundance of the world and the vastness of the heart

☆ Won the One Way Street Literary Award·Young Writer of the Year: Refreshed our coordinates and perspectives for viewing today's world

☆ Praised by Li Jian, Liang Wendao, Luo Xin, Xu Zhiyuan and Yu Minhong: the most outstanding travel writer of this generation

☆ Bookstore Literature Award·Annual Travel Writing Award, added postscript, reflecting on the meaning of travel in the post-epidemic era

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"Arriving Before Midnight" is the writer Liu Zichao's starting work.

He embarked on a journey alone, deep into the heart of Europe, and started a journey of escape and search. Central Europe grew up in the cracks between empires and powers, torn and wandering in the long river of history. It once built a huge empire, ignited two world wars, and was also separated by the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

In the short summer, the young writer jumped on the train and drove on the long track. He escaped from the parade in Berlin, set off with three cans of beer, shuttled between Dresden and Auschwitz, walked on the streets where Kafka became a commodity, and escaped from reality in the underground pubs in Prague. In the long winter night, the confused traveler fell asleep on the bed of the Grand Budapest Hotel and woke up on the street beside the Danube. He drove to the Great Plain of Hungary, was trapped in the cafe of yesterday by the rain, but encountered the great changes in the world on his last night in Trieste.

Uneasy and painful, kind and comforting, bright and shadow - the distant Central Europe is like a mirror, still maintaining its eternal and unchanging characteristics, attracting the same confused young hearts. When reality is too heavy, when the times are too frivolous, go to see the scenery and the world, to witness hope and suffering, in order to understand that "there are still people in the world living like this", confirm yourself in the repeated departures and arrivals.

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While modern people are used to enjoying the convenience of information on the Internet, Liu Zichao insists on entering the scene in person and recreating the journey through literature. The situations of the people he witnessed and wrote about refresh our coordinates and perspectives of today's world. And those unfamiliar place names on the edge and in the cracks of the world have also become connected to us because of the presence of a Chinese writer. ——One Way Street Award Speech

Chinese people began to re-understand the world in 1840. Writers like Liu Zichao have accelerated our pace of understanding the world. He made difficult journeys to the local areas again and again, deeply understood the local culture and history, and then unveiled the mysterious veil of the world through exquisite and appropriate writing, which aroused our desire to understand the world. After reading Zichao's books, I always hope that I can follow his route and write such books. - Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental

In the newly emerging travel writing in the Chinese world, Liu Zichao is a name that cannot be ignored. His curiosity, insight, hesitation, and habitual self-indulgence all exude a special charm. Zichao is the most outstanding travel writer of this generation. His narration and feelings often remind me of Paul Theroux. - Xu Zhiyuan, writer and founder of One Way Space

Liu Zichao's travels are different from those of ordinary tourists. He has a true traveler's perspective, goes deep into the streets and alleys, interacts with people, and inherits the excellent tradition of travel literature. ——Luo Xin, Professor of History Department, Peking University

Starting with "The Lost Satellite", I began to pay attention to travel literature again, or it can be said that Liu Zichao broke my prejudice against travel notes. The new book "Arrival Before Midnight" is still wonderful, and what he recorded is simple and vivid, but more than that, what interests me more is his thoughts, because the author's own vision, thoughts and even soul determine the depth and meaning of the trip. Many places in the book are places I have not been to, but I don't feel strange. On the contrary, it is cordial, as if describing places and life that I am familiar with, in the past, present and even in the future. A good travel note can be truly fascinating. I believe that even readers who have not been to those places in the book will feel more empathy after reading these words than most people who have been there in person, because the author's extraordinary sensitivity and unique perspective can better restore the truth of life itself. ——Li Jian, singer

I used to have a prejudice that travel literature was a genre exclusive to English writers, like "The Sea and Sardinia" or "To the Land of the Amu Darya", and they were more like the masters of this world. Liu Zichao's book corrected my prejudice. He wandered around Central Europe, through the morning mist, and brought this excellent work - we are all passers-by, but we also own this world. ——Miao Wei, writer

Liu Zichao's works have a concise prose style, as well as a unique sense of humor, curiosity and adventurous spirit, which makes them a pleasure to read. Liu Zichao is a keen observer of human nature and a very talented writer. - Jon Lee Anderson, senior reporter of The New Yorker

About the Author · · · · · ·