Southeast Net, May 14 (Reporters Wu Zhen and Huang Qipeng of Haixia Metropolis Daily, text/photos) To relieve study pressure, a son climbed over the school wall to go online late at night, which worried his father, Mr. Zheng. To help his son de-stress, Mr. Zheng came up with an idea: take a leave of absence and cycle across China with his son. “Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.”
Yesterday afternoon around 3 p.m., reporters met this father-son duo from Hainan at the Cangshan Campus of Fujian Normal University. “Every time we arrive in a city, I take my son to visit the local universities,” said Mr. Zheng. They set off from Haikou, traveled north along the coastline, then headed back to Hainan from inland areas after reaching Beijing. This stop was Fuzhou.
Family meeting decides on budget trip with son
Mr. Zheng, 50, is a shareholder in a Hainan education organization, and his son Xiao Jian, 17, is a high school sophomore. In early March this year, Mr. Zheng applied for a six-month sick leave for Xiao Jian from school and took him on a low-budget cycling tour.
“I’d been thinking about this decision for a long time,” said Mr. Zheng. Xiao Jian attends a private high school in Hainan and is a diligent child, but his grades just wouldn’t improve. What’s worse, starting last November, Xiao Jian became addicted to the internet.
“The initial reason I went online was due to feeling psychologically imbalanced,” said Xiao Jian. Whenever he was studying, his classmates were online, yet their grades were similar. He felt his efforts were in vain, so he began surfing the internet and even climbed over the wall to internet cafes late at night to get more time online.
Mr. Zheng noticed Xiao Jian’s unusual behavior. “During the Spring Festival, I took Xiao Jian to see a psychologist, who warned me that Xiao Jian was under too much psychological pressure and needed to change his environment to ease the stress,” said Mr. Zheng. The idea of cycling across China with his son on a budget was born at that time. After a family meeting in early March, the whole family supported taking Xiao Jian out on the trip.
Budget tour for half a year to let son taste life’s hardships
On March 26 this year, the father and son set off from Haikou, passing through Zhanjiang, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and other places. Along the way, they helped others plant vegetables and worked as janitors in factories. To save money, they mostly slept in tents and only occasionally stayed in small hotels when it was windy or rainy—but the room rate never exceeded 150 yuan. Even so, they had already spent 10,000 yuan by the time they reached Fuzhou.
Yesterday afternoon at 3 p.m., the father and son arrived in Fuzhou.
“As soon as we got to Fuzhou, I took Xiao Jian to walk around Fujian Normal University,” said Mr. Zheng. Because the weather was nice, he decided to keep moving and head further north. “The budget trip is to train Xiao Jian’s perseverance. Along this journey, we’re not visiting scenic spots.”
Mr. Zheng said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Experiencing different customs, cultures, and human histories through travel is something you can’t get from books. He also worries that Xiao Jian might not refocus once they return home, but he prefers to believe that the hardships of the journey will make Xiao Jian realize that nothing is easier than studying.
“Of course, I thought this decision through,” said Mr. Zheng. Before leaving, Xiao Jian brought all the books he needed to read for this semester, and whenever there was downtime, he would calm down and study. Of course, Mr. Zheng also prepared for the worst—if Xiao Jian falls behind on his sophomore year studies after returning, he’ll have him repeat the grade.
“My classmates support me too—they’ll send me all their class notes,” said Xiao Jian. Through this budget trip, he learned perseverance, and he believes this perseverance can be applied to his studies. He’s confident that when he returns to school, he’ll be a new person.