Here we are, less than a week left and then off we go! And so the time to pack has arrived… Jesuits in the XVII century packed very differently from us. They crossed deserted areas and camped in the middle of nowhere, They had to carry tents, supplies, tables, chairs and much more as they traveled…

Who said traveling is easier today? Queuing now at the Visa Application Center with a folder full of documents and forms to get a tourist visa for China. The Jesuits needed no visa, their fame and reputation preceded them everywhere!

Here is the headquarters of the Jesuits’ order in the eternal city! It was within these walls that Kircher wrote the China Illustrata. Not a bad place to start our expedition to China, following in the footsteps of the Jesuits whom Kircher wrote about!

Our tickets to Beijing cost us a few hundred euros, ten minutes of our time and a couple of mouse clicks. It took about a decade for the first Jesuits to plan the outward trip from Rome to Bejin and one of them died in the meanwhile!