Salisbury (Sarum) Probus Club

Andrew Negus gave a fascinating talk to Sarum Probus Club on 13^th February 2026. As a young man Andrew had ventured as far as New Zealand backpacking. Therefore, in 1991, after the death of his wife, to find some peace after a time of grief, he set out to make a second journey there and meet up with old friends. This time he would go by train.

His talk told us the first part of his venture, the journey to China. He took his backpack and a small pouch of money strapped carefully to his chest. He decided to use the Trans-Siberian Railway stopping en route to see many historic cities. He was travelling alone but soon found travel companions from a variety of countries.

Warsaw was one place he stopped and he was surprised at how anti-Russian the people were in those early years following independence from the Soviet Union. Travelling on to Moscow he was impressed by how colourful the city was. Living on a very low budget Andrew was pleased too, that food, although not of great quality, was relatively cheap. The Russian travellers on the train were very hospitable.

In Mongolia passengers had to alight while wheels were changed to fit a different gauge and then, when leaving the country alight again while the wheels were changed back.

Finally Andrew reached China. In 1991 there were almost no cars in the country, people mostly used bicycles or buses. He was also thrown because all signs were in Chinese and Andrew knew very little. There was no European food and foreigners were only allowed to stay in designated hotels.

At first it all seemed rather drab and disappointing. Andrew decided to stay as planned and he began to see China through new eyes. He visited the Great Wall and the Emperor’s Palace, both great feats of engineering.

This was only the first part of Andrew’s Venture and members look forward to hearing more some time in the future.