Paris-Pékin 1985: Forty Years Ago, the Fabulous Journey of 400 Teenagers to the Country of Mao

Le Monde

Lean Left

Factuality

Ownership

On 2 July 1985, a train left Conflans-Sainte-Honorine railway station in a festive atmosphere, destination Beijing. On board, nearly 400 Frenchmen from all walks of life, aged between 15 and 25 years, are preparing to cross the Iron Curtain and cross the dictatorships of the East Block. In the wagons, the atmosphere quickly turns to the holiday colony and to the permanent happening. This formidable expedition tells the euphoria of the 1980s and …