Upstream Odyssey: An American in China, 1895-1944

Upstream Odyssey traces the fascinating life of Protestant missionary Daniel Crofts, the author's grandfather, who worked in China from 1895 to 1944 as a member of the China Inland Mission (CIM). Daniel arrived in China as the missionary tide was rising and stayed until it ebbed, half a century later. He was based after 1904 in Guizhou Province, part of southwest China's remote interior. A slow two-month journey upriver separated Guizhou from the coast and from the world beyond. Daniel witnessed the continuing rhythms of daily life during a time of desperate poverty, political upheaval, banditry, revolution, and war. His experiences illuminate in miniature a central thread of modern world history China s encounter with the West