Can I travel to China by rail without passing through Russia?

Simon Calder answers your questions on marathon rail journeys, cruise controls and scuba diving in the sun

Travel via Baku, home to the Juma mosque, in Azerbaijan (Simon Calder)

Q Is it possible to get from the UK to China by rail without going through Russia or other impassable lands?

Name supplied

A In normal times, the obvious way to reach Beijing (and from there, most other parts of China) overland is to take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow via Novosibirsk to Irkutsk and Ulan Ude in eastern Siberia. Here, the Trans-Mongolian line leads south to Ulan Bator and Beijing – where it arrives about six days after leaving the Russian capital.