Read here about my recent 2300 kilometer motorcycle journey which took me to such places as Wudang Shan, where ancient Taoism matured into a strong belief, Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, and the Shaolin Temple at Songshan, the birthplace of Kung Fu. Click on the map to enlarge it

When I woke up the next morning, it was Friday, exactly one week after the start of my journey. I was tired of traveling and I wanted to go home as soon as possible. It wasn't so much physical exhaustion that was plaguing me but rather mental exhaustion. It wasn't hard to sit on a motorcycle for hours but keeping myself alert was at many times difficult. In the countryside especially, people and animals crossed the road without looking even when they could hear a vehicle approaching. One moment of lack of concentration on my part could lead to multiple injuries or worse. In addition, the task of staying on the right roads was tiring. Most of the time, the road signs only displayed Chinese characters so I had to spend a lot time comparing these characters to the characters on my map. When I staying in a town it was so often frustrating to try to communicate with people when I needed something. Throughout my journey, even in the major tourist areas I was disappointed to discover how few people in fact spoke the English language. While I appreciated the fact that my oral Chinese probably improved a hundred fold out of pure necessity, bridging the communication gap still felt like hard work. This was the first time that I had ever been responsible for every aspect of my trip. After seven days, I was ready to have a rest.

I left the city of Dengfeng with the intention of reaching Jingzhou in the evening. I had no idea exactly how far I would have to drive or how long it would take but I didn't care. I just wanted to go back. I pushed my little motorcycle hard and it carried its weight admirably. I didn't stop for meals; I only stopped for gas and once for a quick snack. I drove for hours on end. I was exhausted but I was alert and I knew that I was making the best time yet this trip.

I arrived into Shashi at about 8:15. When I looked at my watch I could not believe my eyes. When I looked at my odometer I was equally surprised. I had traveled almost 600 kilometers in 14 hours on a motorcycle that was only supposed to go 300 kilometers a day. That evening, I stopped at Yinghua to retrieve the key to my apartment and I met one of the teachers who was shocked to hear that I had just driven all the way from Songshan. I couldn't believe it myself.

My total mileage for the trip was just over 2300 Kilometers. I had spent close to 60 hours driving. I had experienced very few problems and the weather was beautiful throughout the journey. In fact, the only time it rained was on my way back from Song shan and it stopped after 10 minutes. No one had tried to rob me and I had never run out of gas. I had a lot to be thankful for.

I am very grateful to all of the people who assisted me along the way. Everywhere I went, people were more than willing to help me. While my map and GPS did a great service for me there were times when I would have been hopelessly lost if it weren't for the kind help of some Chinese stranger.

As I stood in class the next week telling my amazed students and their teachers about my trip I told them how fortunate they were to live in such a beautiful country. China is a veritable paradise of ancient culture that has been well preserved. It is a place of incredible natural wonders as well that only serve to compliment the man made wonders. I made many wonderful memories on this trip and I will never forget the places that I visited and the real Chinese culture that I was able to experience firsthand.

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Teach English Abroad