Manshu has been translated, but you must be aware of that, right. Its good anyway to hear some local expat is doing somehing like this. In perspective with the vast variety out there, the outcome has been way too shallow, even Thai alco-expats get books done on their surroundings.
And talking about it, why would anyone bother with these Tolkiens and Davinci Code whatever modern crap there is around, when theres Yunnan out there (and Bob Dylan). This is enough for a lifetime, if not two.
Yeah, apparently it was previously badly translated by a guy in Burma who hadn't necessarily even been here. Apparently he said it was just a start and not to be relied upon. I've never seen it though I requested it from the original publishing university they never replied. He's dead now and his notes (the ones not lost) have been dissipated in to the four directions (I believe much of it in Australia, where he died, though he was English). Anyway, for the degree of availability and hearsay about it, it's functionally almost as good as "not translated". Though the French and Vietnamese translations may be better, I'm skeptical they're any more available.
Yunnan Railway Museum - this is the title of the thread.
More or less all university libraries in Thailand allow people, while not being listed to the university, still go and read their books. Some uni libraries take a small fee, but not all. You can even copy a bagful of books there as theres a copy service too.
Manshu can be found in Chiang Mai University library, among others. It must be in Yunnan too, but since China is more restrictive on controlling information, its not as easy to come over as in other places.
This applies to books on the Yunnan Railway too. And if someone is interested in digging deeper on this railway, it will be useful with a trip to Hanoi. One of the reasons there is such a shallow outcome from Yunnan must be that there has not been an active literary and intellectual tradition since 1940's or so. And hiw could there, when most you get hands on is cooking books.
