1908年，美国人罗伯特•斯特林•克拉克率领一支国际科考探险队，历时一年多，在中国北方的黄土高原腹地，长途跋涉，对晋、陕、甘、宁进行了地理、地质、气象、生物、社会等多学科的综合考察。1912年由克拉克和索尔比共同完成的探险考察报告——《穿越陕甘》，在英国伦敦和德国莱比锡出版。书中除了记录以上各学科的科学考察结果，还发表了探险队沿途拍摄的大量反映当时历史时期的珍贵照片，配以索尔比写生创作的多幅精美图画，《穿越陕甘》一书，纪录了百年前的黄土高原，给后人留下了丰富生动的历史画面。

一个世纪后的2008年，本书作者李炬，自驾车数万公里，多次重走克拉克探险队之路，寻找当年探险队的足迹，在老照片拍摄地点对位复拍了一批新照片，并将沿途所见拍摄下来，既有沿途风光和名胜古迹，也有生活在这片土地上的人们和他们的日常生活状态。

本书是近年来作者对克拉克探险队研究收获的汇编、精选，既包含在美国搜集到的历史文献，也有跨越中国黄土高原的实地写照，有丰富的社会学意义，是一本精彩难得的文献资料。

In 1908, the American adventurer Robert Sterling Clark organized an international scientific expedition to the hinterland of the Loess Plateau in northern China. One century after the expedition, Li Ju, a Chinese freelance photographer, followed in the footsteps of the Clark expedition and re-explored their route, covering thousands

of kilometers.

One century after the expedition, Li Ju, a Chinese freelance photographer, followed in the footsteps of the Clark expedition and re-explored, their route, covering thousands of kilometers. He has re-photographed a number of views originally captured by the expedition team, recording again the landscape and historical sites and the way people who inhabit this land conduct their daily lives.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Through Shen-Kan, China intercontinental Press has assembled a selection of the original photos taken by the Clark expedition and recent images taken by Li Ju and his colleagues. This book gives both Chinese and foreign readers an intuitive and vivid understanding of the historical appearance of northwestern China and the dramatic changes that have occurred in the past century--a comparative visual essay on the passage of time and the continuity of culture.