Bruno Paulet is passionate about Central Asia and the history of its exploration. His knowledge of Chinese has enabled him to undertake numerous expeditions in the deserts and mountains of the Middle Kingdom. In 2004, Bruno Paulet and a photographer friend set out on a 800 km trek across the Altyn Tagh, from the Teijinar oasis to Cherchen. This region was still off-limits, and almost nothing had changed since the journey recounted by Ella Maillart and Peter Fleming in Forbidden Journey and News from Tartary, published respectively in 1936 and 1937. Bruno Paulet's book Mémoires des sables - En Haute Asie sur la piste oubliée d’Ella Maillart et Peter Fleming (Ed. Olizane, Geneva, 2007) has won the Prix Pierre Loti du Récit de Voyage.