Nicholas II's journey through the countries of the East and to the Asian continent of our great Russia can rightfully be called the journey of the Sovereign, although in those years - 1890-1891 - Nikolai Alexandrovich was still the Heir to the Tsarevich. Greece - Egypt - India - Java - Ceylon - Siam - China - Japan - Vladivostok - this was the sailing route. In the port of Vladivostok, Nicholas II cordially said goodbye to the members of the squadron, rewarding them for their faithful service, and then followed on a steamer, galloping on horseback for more than 10,000 versts to St. Petersburg through the remote outskirts of Russia, Cossack villages, where the Sovereign - the August Ataman of all Cossack troops - the Cossacks literally carried in their arms for joy.
The unprecedented, but grandiose, journey of the Russian Sovereign (sometimes he was even called a circumnavigation of the world) had equally great consequences: the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which consolidated the Russian Empire into a single whole; the rapid development of Siberia and the Far East; friendly business relations with China - that's when we got Port Arthur and built the CER on the lands of Manchuria.
The book about the journey of the Sovereign was published in 1893 (volume I), 1895 and 1897 (volumes II and III). The extensive information, history, ethnography and religion of the peoples of the East, the ease and fascination of reading, magnificent illustrations, a wealth of ideas related to Asia, and the unique, exquisite flavor of the East - all this made the book extremely popular. The Journey was soon published in English, German and French.