Irkutsk to Vladivostok, all-rail route
The time from Irkutsk to Vladivostok by the Amur is problematical, as much depends on the state of the river.
| 8th day | Leave Irkutsk by rail for Lake Baikal, thence by steamer across the holy lake of Russia to Mysovaya. |
| 9th day | Arrive Karymskaya. |
| 10th day | Arrive Manchuria |
| 11th day | 'En route through Manchuria. |
| 12th day | Arrive in the morning at Kharbine, on the Sun- gari River, 4,776 miles from Moscow. A large, overgrown modern city, the base of the Russian General Kuropatkin's masterly retreat from Mukden during the recent Russo-Japanese war, and the junction of the lines running to Vladivostok, Port Arthur and Pekin. Leave in the morning. |
| 13th day | Arrive Vladivostok in the evening, 5,261 miles from Moscow. Total time, twelve days from Moscow. |
Port Arthur Branch |
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| 12th day | From Moscow. Arrive at Kharbine. |
| 13th day | Arrive Mukden, the city from which the Russian General Kuropatkin retreated with dreadful loss, before the victorious Japanese General Oyama: Mukden is a miniature Pekin, and a typical Chinese walled town. Four miles to the east are tombs of the ancestors of the present Manchurian dynasty of China. At Liao-yang was fought the bloodiest battle of the late war, and one of the greatest in history. |
| 14th day | Arrive Port Arthur, 5,382 miles from Moscow. The journey from Kharbine to Port Arthur at present takes about forty hours, but this time will soon be greatly reduced. The surrender of the supposed impregnable fortress by the Russian General Stoessel to the Japanese forces under General Nogi took place January i, 1905, after seven months of persistent and heroic siege and as heroic defense. |
Pekin Branch |
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| 12th day | From Moscow. Arrive at Kharbine. |
| 13th day | Pass Mukden and Liao-yang, famous battlefields of the late war; arrive at Tashitchao, the junction for New-chwang, the treaty port. Arrive at Inkau on the Las Kay River, which, on account of its currents and course changing constantly, and with them the soft bottom being unbridgable, has to be crossed by steamer. |
| 14th day | Leave Inkau by steamer, across the Las Kay; about one hour thence by rail to Shan-hai Kwan, where the night is spent. The great Wall of China here starts from the sea and extends west for 1,500 miles. It is said to have been finished 204 B.C. |
| 15th day | Leave Shan-hai Kwan, skirting the shores of the Gulf of Pe-chili, passing the famous Chinese Taku Forts and Tientsin, arriving at Pekin in the evening. |
