Following the Silk Road to the end of China

In the wilds of Central Asia, the pleasures of the former Russian consulate in Kashgar can hardly be overstated.  A century ago the old consulate was one of the stages of the Great Game, as the Russians and the British vied for influence in Chinese Turkestan. In those glamorous days, servants were double agents, houseguests were presumed to be spies, and dinner parties, much enlivened by Russian vodka, were peppered with assassinations.