Back in the saddle

Like many people who dream to explore the world on a bike, which is the most environment-friendly and economical way to travel, Zhang is one of the few adventurers who has realized that dream.

When he was a junior at the Jilin Agricultural University in Northeast China's Jilin province in the late 2010s, Zhang embarked on his first long-distance bike trip across Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.

After graduating in 2019, Zhang cycled 60,000 km on dirt and icy roads and pasture lands with sheer strength and determination across the country in three years, visiting about 80 percent of the country's prefecture-level cities.

"For me, riding is a personal challenge, which provides rewarding experiences, such as meeting people and getting to know different cultures," Zhang says.

Always wanting to hit the road and break out of routine life, he quit his job in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, and started his bike journey on Jan 1.

Before that, he read lots of books and watched documentaries on the history and culture of Southeast Asian countries to prepare for his trip.

"I was intrigued by the history of Chinese migration to nanyang (south seas) between the 1850s and 1940s," Zhang says, adding that numerous people from southern China migrated to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. These countries are all very different, and yet, because they are in close geographical proximity, they have strong historical connections, he says.

With his navigation and translation apps installed in his smartphone, Zhang arrived at the northern Vietnamese city of Mong Cai through the Beilun River bridge.

With the familiar rural scene rolling past in Guangxi, Zhang felt relieved on the first day when people smiled and waved at him as he passed them on the bike. He chose to spend the first night in his tent in a field.

Looking into the long history of cultural influence and immigration between Vietnam and China, Zhang cycled from north to south to explore the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi, Ha Long Bay off the coast of northern Vietnam, the Complex of Hue Monuments lying along the Perfume River in Hue city, and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, in southern Vietnam.

Though enjoying the beautiful scenery, Zhang says the weather should be borne in mind while cycling in Southeast Asia, as sweltering days are as common as sudden downpours.

One of the highlights of his Vietnam journey was visiting a temple in Nghi Loc, Nghe An province, to commemorate poet Wang Bo from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), who died, possibly from drowning, while visiting the region.

Wang is the poet traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang, Lu Zhaolin and Yang Jiong as the "Four Paragons of the Early Tang".

"Wang was also from Shanxi, which ignited my interest in the poet and the land where he died," Zhang says, adding that it reminded him of Wang's verse, "Hainei cun zhiji, tianya ruo bilin (close friend in a distant land, far-flung realms as next door)".

Zhang spent about 10,000 yuan ($1,410.23) in total on the trip.