In April this year, Niu Dawei spent nearly two months cycling 5,400 kilometers from Beijing to Nepal. At every stop, he stamped his diary with local postmarks. Photo courtesy of the subject.
Niu Dawei, an unassuming young man from Huairou, pulled off something truly "awesome" this summer: he cycled solo from Beijing to Kathmandu, Nepal, over the course of two months. But what struck him most during the 5,500-kilometer journey was how often strangers stepped in to help him when he faced challenges—he received assistance from more than 300 people along the way.
On April 15 of this year, Niu Dawei set off near Taiyanggong, cycling 180 kilometers on the first day and staying overnight in Baoding, Hebei. The next day, trouble struck. In Baoding, Niu couldn’t find National Highway 107 no matter how hard he looked. When cycling long-distance, the last thing you want is to end up in an unfamiliar big city—it’s not as simple as driving to get back onto the main road.
Just as he was at his wit’s end, a local person without hesitation cycled more than ten kilometers with him to locate the highway and even treated him to a hearty breakfast. This Good Samaritan, who chose to remain anonymous, said he’d once found himself in a similar situation in Beijing, helped out by a kind stranger, and felt it was only right to pay it forward.
To this day, Niu remains deeply grateful to that stranger. “Kindness needs to be passed on. If I encounter something like that in the future, I won’t stand by either,” he said.
At Jianziwan Mountain in Garzê, Sichuan, which stands 4,659 meters above sea level, even though early summer had arrived, rain and sleet poured down as he ascended. Niu’s hands turned red from the cold, and halfway around a bend, his tire got slashed by gravel. Unable to ride any further, a devastated Niu huddled by the roadside.
“In that place with no villages in sight, I felt utterly helpless, like shouting to the heavens and earth got me nowhere. I was ready to give up—but then another kind soul appeared and gave me hope,” Niu recalled. A speeding SUV pulled over beside him, and a family of three got out to check on him, offering to take him and his bike to a repair spot. The family invited him to ride with them, but remembering that he couldn’t abandon his cycling journey, he politely declined.
“There were so many such moments along the way. These experiences and feelings of kindness made me truly feel the warmth of humanity. I think this will influence my entire life, and how I view society and human relationships,” Niu said.
After nearly two months of travel, passing through Lhasa, crossing the Gangbala Mountain, and exiting the Zhangmu border, Niu finally entered Nepal, with just 120 kilometers left to his destination, Kathmandu.
Niu thought he could reach his goal in half a day at his current pace. But as soon as he left Zhangmu, he immediately encountered the differences of a foreign land. The most immediate was the road condition—it was far worse than in China, and his bicycle simply couldn’t handle it. Even driving an SUV required extreme caution. Thirty kilometers from Kathmandu, his bike finally gave up due to the brutal road—its front axle snapped—and Niu had to walk to catch a local bus.
But once off the bus, he got lost. With crowds all around, he couldn’t find a single English speaker. In this unfamiliar environment, Niu began to feel a bit terrified. If something really went wrong, there’d be nowhere to turn for help. Then, a white woman approached from a distance. After a brief exchange, Niu learned she was Australian and very familiar with the area. She explained that his destination was over an hour away and the roads were winding and hard to navigate.
Seeing how lost Niu looked, the woman simply walked with him for over an hour until they reached the tourist area. Along the way, Niu clung to her arm like a lifeline. Once they arrived, she took him to a guesthouse where many Chinese people stayed, then quietly left. “I don’t even know her name. I was just so excited to see someone Chinese I forgot to thank her. Now I really regret it,” Niu said.
Before heading to Kathmandu, Niu mainly cycled in suburban areas of Beijing like Daxing, Fangshan, and Mentougou, and had no experience with cross-border long-distance cycling. “I received help from kind strangers about five or six times a day on average—I was essentially delivered to my destination by a series of unfamiliar helping hands,” Niu summarized his journey.