V knige akademik V. A. Obruchev opisyvaet vpechatleniya svoego puteshestviya v Mongoliyu i Kitaj, kotoroe bylo organizovano Russkim Geograficheskim Obschestvom i vypolneno v 1892 1894 gg. Vo glave etoj ekspeditsii byl etnograf G. N. Potanin. Avtoru byli porucheny geologicheskie issledovaniya na zapade Tsentral'noj Azii, v osobennosti v gornyh sistemah Nan'-Shanya i Vost. Tyan'-Shanya, a takzhe vostochnoj okrainy Tibeta. Takim obrazom, vpechatleniya i nablyudeniya, sobrannye vo vremya puteshestviya, byli ochen' raznoobrazny, i izlozhennoe v knige pomozhet znakomstvu s prirodoj i naseleniem znachitel'noj chasti obshirnoj Azii.
Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (Russian: Владимир Афанасьевич Обручев) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized in the study of Siberia and Central Asia. He was also one of the first Russian science fiction authors.