It consists mainly of essays describing the travels of the Ming dynasty geographer Xu Xiake.
This book offers detailed descriptions of geography, hydrology, geology, plants and other phenomena.
He traveled to Jinling (Nanjing) in 1611, visited Mount Huangshan, Wuyishan, Baiyue Nine-Bend stream, and West Lake in 1616.
His persistence led others to invent the term "spirit of Xu Xiake".
Xu Xiake's Travels corrected many mistakes about Chinese roads, described many plants and how the wind speed and air temperature affect plants.