A mother is following in the footsteps of her grandfather and setting off to China by train 100 years after he departed to the very minute.
Liz Barron, 63, and her husband Tony, 71, set off on their 6,000 mile journey from Barry, South Wales, to Shanghai last Saturday.
Her grandfather Leslie Pardoe, then a 21-year-old bachelor, left the town on April 20, 1913, to start a new life as a deputy engineer in Shanghai.
Two tickets to Shanghai! Mr and Mrs Barron stand on the platform at Barry station waiting for their first train as they embark on their epic journey to China last Saturday
Their route: Liz Barron and her husband Tony have embarked on a 6,000 mile journey from Barry, south Walers, to Shanghai. The red arrow (right) shows the only point that their journey differs from Liz's grandfather's 100 years ago
Recreating his steps: Leslie Pardoe and his wife Margaret who he met while living in Shanghai. They are pictured here on their honeymoon in Japan in 1916
Destination: Shanghai's glittering high-rise skyline which has shot up in the last 20 years - and is unrecognisable from the city Mr Pardoe lived in 100 years ago
VIDEO Liz Barron fondly details plans for the Wales to China trip...
On train with intrepid traveller following in footsteps of her...
At the time there was a large expatriate community in the Chinese coastal city as it was used by the West as a trading port.
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The British, the Americans and the French had all set up concession zones in the city which were not run under local law.
RECREATING HER GRANDFATHER'S ROUTE: HOW LIZ AND HER HUSBAND WILL GET TO SHANGHAI
Train from Barry, South Wales, to Cardiff
Train to London Paddington from Cardiff
Onward travel to Ramsgate where they will get the ferry to Ostend
Train to Moscow across central Europe via Brussels, Cologne, Berlin and Warsaw
Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Changchun, northern China
Overnight train from Changchun to Shanghai which passes through Beijing
The whole journey should take Liz 24 days while her grandfather managed it in just 15 - and he suffered a train derailment. However, Mrs Barron and her husband are stopping en route to do some sight-seeing.
The only major difference in the route is Mr Pardoe got a ferry from Dailen through the East China Sea to Shanghai. The service no longer runs, so Mrs Barron is doing the three-day journey in one night on a train.
As he headed off to the East a century ago, Mr Pardoe took the train first class to Moscow - for the princely sum of £10 7s 3d.
He then continued on his journey through Russia, Siberia and Manchuria before arriving in China after 15 days.
His grandaughter Liz and her husband started off outside his old redbrick home in Barry as they embarked on their epic £25,000 journey.
They boarded the 15.45 train at the local station - and copied Mr Pardoe by telling the guard: 'Two first class tickets to Shanghai please.'
The local train took them the short distance to Cardiff where they caught the First Great Western service to London Paddington.
In London they dined at the same Whitehall hotel as Mr Pardoe did a century ago before crossing the Channel from Ramsgate to Ostend.
Liz and Tony, who have five children and ten grandchildren between them, are now retracing his route across Europe to Moscow, via Brussels, Cologne, Berlin and Warsaw.
Unlike their forerunner, they will be taking short breaks in some of those cities before joining the Trans-Siberian Railway.
They will spend four nights on the train from Moscow to Listvyanka on Lake Baikal in Siberia. From there the Trans-Manchurian railway will take them via Harbin to Changchun in northern China.
Departure point: Liz and Tony leave from the same spot in Barry, south Wales that her grandfather Leslie left from
Departure point: Leslie Pardoe's former home in Barry, South Wales, which he left on April 20, 1913. Exactly 100 years later his granddaughter departed for Shanghai from outside the same property
On their way: Recreating Mr Pardoe's journey, Liz and Tony walk down to the train station on the way to Shanghai from Barry, South Wales
His departure: Leslie Pardoe (second from the right) on April 20, 1913, when he left for China. His father Joseph can be seen on the right
First ticket: Liz and Tony buy their tickets for the half hour 10-mile journey to Cardiff as they embark on the first leg of their 6,000 mile journey
On his way: A newspaper announcement about Leslie Pardoe's departure. He was presented with a coat, a book and a compass as a gift by the Local Government Officers' Association
Their route maps Liz's grandfather's journey as closely as possible - although a number of the railway lines have been replaced over the last century.
Only the last leg of their route differs significantly, as Mr Pardoe as he took a three-day ferry ride from Dalien in China to Shanghai.
The service is no longer available so Liz and Tony will instead take an overnight sleeper train from Changchun - finally arriving in Shanghai on May 14.
They plan to spend a week in Shanghai visiting some of the places associated with Mr Pardoe who lived in the Far Eastern port for 27 years.
Farewell drink: Tony (right) and Liz (third from the right) enjoy a farewell drink with their relatives as they prepare to set off on their epic 6,000 mile journey
Ready to go: Liz and Tony's first train arrives at Barry train station last Saturday to take them to Cardiff on the first leg of their journey
Farewell: Mrs Barron and her husband wave goodbye to relatives at the station as they head to Cardiff - and on to Shanghai
He met Liz's grandmother Margaret in Shanghai and married her in 1916 and they had four children. Liz's father John was the youngest of their three sons.
Mr Pardoe left Shanghai for good in 1940 when the Japanese took over the city and escaped back to England via Canada.
After the war, China turned Communist in a revolution in 1949.
Mr Pardoe died in 1965 - but left detailed notes and photographs of his epic journey.
They have been handed to Liz so she could faithfully recreate the journey.
Liz, a childrens' author and former county councillor, said: 'As a little girl I was fascinated with all the Chinese artefacts in my grandma's house.
All mapped out: As they make their way to Cardiff, Liz and Tony look at the 6,000 mile route their will take on their map
Next step: Liz and Tony in the first class carriage on their way to London Paddington last Saturday as they complete the first two stages of their journey to Shanghai
Wedding day: Liz's grandparents Leslie and Margaret Pardoe on their wedding day in Shanghai in November 1916
Engineer: Leslie Pardoe on a Sampan boat on the Yangtze River, in Shanghai, during his time in China
Brits in Shanghai: Leslie Pardoe, right, with a friend known only as Grimson at the Ravenscourt country club in a British-controlled area of Shanghai in 1913
Mr Pardoe's wife: Margaret, who is Liz Barron's grandmother, rides in a Palanquin in Shanghai
'One day grandpa's diary turned up and I decided that I had to follow what he'd done.
'I then realised we were close to the 100-year anniversary of his trip and everything fell into place.
'We're even starting from his old house in Barry - with the current owner's permission - and following grandpa as closely as possible.
'He kept a diary, written in pencil on 25 loose sheets of paper, so we have a pretty good idea of where he went.
'He travelled with four other young men and went the entire way by first class, which was a major achievement all those years ago.
As it was: A picture of the Yangtze River in Shanghai in 1913 before it was transformed into the glitzy modern city it is today
Day out: James Pardoe (front left), Leslie Pardoe (centre) and John Pardoe, who was Liz's father (right), on a day out at the races in Shanghai in 1925
Brit abroad: Recent ex-pat Leslie Pardoe (right) at the Ravenscourt country club in Shanghai in 1913 shortly after he had moved from Barry, South Wales
River ride: Leslie Pardoe (front) in a small boat on the Yangtze River in Shanghai, 1917, which has come from the family album
'His train de-railed just outside Moscow - where the line had only been completed around 15 years earlier - but it was repaired within seven hours.
'It really was a remarkable adventure and the start of a very eventful life in Shanghai.'
Liz and Tony, from Southampton, will travel virtually all the way by first class train, and will shun the grim Chinese hard seat carriages in favour of the more luxurious sleepers.
Tony, a quantity surveyor, said: 'We are expecting to face some challenges on this trip.
'But I'm sure my experiences of travelling on other trains around the world when I was working abroad will not be repeated.
Life in the East: Margaret Pardoe, who is Liz's grandmother, left, riding a horse in Shanghai during the 1920s
Relatives: Liz's grandmother Margaret Pardoe, left, with her sisters, Francis, and Teresa in Shanghai in 1915
Welshman in Shanghai: Leslie Pardoe (left) working as a volunteer firefighter in the 1920s
'They were often overcrowded with families, their baggage and their animals and were hot, smelly and uncomfortable.
'We are not faint-hearted but that would be a step too far.'
The couple plan to spent another three weeks touring China and another visiting relatives in Hong Kong before returning home at the beginning of June.
Their seven-week holiday has taken 11 months to plan with train operators First Great Western providing them with free first class return tickets to Paddington.
On his way: Leslie Pardoe (circled) on a train which derailed on April 24, 1913, on his way to Shanghai on the Siberian Express
Newspaper cutting: The Siberian express train which Mr Pardoe was getting on the way to Shanghai was derailed four days after he left Wales
Life in Shanghai: Leslie Pardoe, left, outside the Astor House Hotel close to The Bund in Shanghai
A British retreat in Shanghai: The Ravenscourt country club where Mr Pardoe was photographed spending some of his time