A young man rides thousands of miles alone to Yunnan to see his birth mother.
The road is long — 2,692 kilometers. To find his mother, he undertakes a solo ride across thousands of miles.
2,599 kilometers, 2,420 kilometers… 1,073 kilometers… 598 kilometers… 25-year-old Cai Feihe counts the distance between him and his mother every day to motivate himself.
He was separated from his mother at birth. Twenty-five years later, when he finally got her contact information and address, he said no mode of transport — plane, train, or car — could express the longing he’d felt for over two decades. He decided to reunite with his birth mother in a special way.
Setting off from Jiaxing, he cycled for 22 days and yesterday, Cai Feihe set foot on Kunming soil. Looking back at the road he had traveled, he sighed toward the sky, then turned around and took one step at a time toward the mother he had been separated from since birth...
The closer he got, the more anxious he became
“My mom probably has long hair, right? Aunties around her age in the village all have long hair. Should I buy her a gift? It’s only natural to give her something, but what does she like? Should I run up and call out ‘Mom,’ or just watch her from a distance? Should I check into a hotel first or show up in front of her, still covered in dust...”
Feihe even worried, “Will my mom recognize me?”
Throughout his cycling journey, thoughts of longing, imagination, and anxiety filled his mind.
From the moment he got her phone number until he made the decision to set off this autumn, he deliberated for over half a year. After all, his mother now had her own family. “What if my sudden appearance affects her life?”
During the trip, Feihe once told a reporter over the phone that once he arrived in Yunnan, he definitely wouldn’t go to his mother’s current home. “I just want to call out ‘Mom’ with my own voice and tell her how much I’ve missed her.”
At around 7 p.m. last night, after arriving in Kunming, Feihe didn’t go straight to his mother’s address. He first met with Xiao Han, his company general manager.
Met colleagues in Kunming and broke down in tears
Xiao Han and several colleagues had flown to Kunming the previous afternoon. Xiao Han said, “To be honest, no one could predict how this search for his mother would turn out. Of course we hoped for a happy ending, but what if the phone number he’s had for over half a year doesn’t even work? Or if something goes wrong — at least we can be there with him.”
When the young employee slowly came into view at the meeting place, Xiao Han felt a lump in his throat. “He looked extremely thin and was covered in dirt.”
Feihe also couldn’t hold back his tears when he saw his colleagues.
As their emotions calmed down and they discussed how to meet his mother, Feihe fell silent. “I’m scared to make the call. What if it doesn’t go through? I don’t even know how to say the first thing.”
In the end, Xiao Han helped him dial the number. When Feihe took the phone, his hand was shaking. On the other end, it seemed the person hadn’t yet realized what was going on.
The reunion scene wasn’t quite what he had imagined
Over the phone, mother and son agreed on a meeting place. While waiting for his mom, Feihe kept his head down and trembled. The only time he looked up was when a colleague said, “Feihe, you’re almost there, you’ve got this!” At that moment, his eyes reddened.
His mother appeared, wearing a black coat. Outside the mall, surrounded by many people, she looked a bit nervous. Feihe stepped forward and hugged her, calling out, “Mom.”
This hug was different from what Feihe had imagined. His mother didn’t react immediately. Seeing the crowd staring at them, she nervously said to her son, “Why didn’t you tell me in advance?”
Feihe suddenly realized that his sudden appearance might have been too shocking for his mother. “With so many people watching, some might even know her. It could affect her current family.”
Feihe sat down on the ground and cried in frustration. He told his colleagues, “If I ruin my mom’s current life, I’ll feel guilty for the rest of my life!”
After being comforted by his colleagues, Feihe calmed down. They went to a restaurant for dinner, where he kept telling his mom, “Mom, please don’t be upset.”
His mother replied, “I’m not upset, not upset. I was just being too emotional myself.” Then she quickly called Feihe’s uncle to come over.
Feihe had mentioned to a reporter before that he had always been told he looked a lot like his uncle. This trip to Kunming had also held anticipation of meeting him.
After dinner, Feihe went to stay at his uncle’s home...
If the water ran out, he would ask a farmer by the roadside for some.
He was never refused once.
On the second day after setting off, Feihe met a cycling enthusiast from Hangzhou who was heading to Jiangxi for a wedding. The two traveled together for two days, encouraging each other along the way. Feihe was sweating a lot and drinking plenty of water, so the cyclist shared his remaining water with him. When it came time to part ways, Feihe didn’t want to say goodbye but could only wish the cyclist a safe journey.
Feihe cycled on alone, feeling more and more excited as he got closer to his mother. He sang loudly on the road, saying, “The big trucks on the road could hear me, the golden rice fields by the roadside could hear me, the beautiful terraced fields could hear me...”
Beyond the excitement and anticipation, the non-cyclist began to experience sore wrists. After each strenuous ride, when he stopped to rest, his whole body would heat up, and he would sweat profusely. He drank a lot of water, and when that wasn’t enough, he would ask farmers by the roadside for more—and was never refused once.
If it weren’t for the kindness of strangers
He might have been stranded in the mountains
On November 1st, the front tire of his bicycle was punctured by glass—the only issue the bike had during the entire trip. Fortunately, the preparation he had done before setting off came in handy. Feihe said it took him 15 minutes to fix it, and he arrived at his destination for the day—Dongkou County in Hunan—at 6:23 PM.
As he got closer to Yunnan, the mountain roads became steeper. Just when he thought a turn would lead to the mountaintop, there was still another uphill. On November 2nd, while cycling from Dongkou County to Huaihua, Feihe had to push his bike up one slope after another. “It felt even more exhausting than cycling. But at least the scenery along the fog-covered road was beautiful.”
During a break, a kind truck driver on a three-wheeled motorcycle warned him that the treacherous Tianfeng Mountain lay ahead, and if he didn’t take a ride with him, he might not make it down the mountain before dark. Worried, Feihe accepted the ride and reached the mountaintop with the driver. During their conversation, Feihe learned that the kind man used to be a cycling enthusiast and asked him if he’d heard of the “Xiang Army Riders.”
Around 5 PM, they reached the mountaintop. After thanking the driver, Feihe decided to ride down the mountain himself. He made it down by 6:10 PM, though it was already dark.
“If I hadn’t met this kind person, I think I would have called for help. The mountain was covered in thick fog, and I didn’t dare camp out. Thinking about how scared I was, I even laughed at myself when I rested at night.”
On November 8th, when he reached Anshun, he was chased by two dogs. “They chased me for over 40 meters—it scared me to death.” That night, he was 445 kilometers away from Kunming.
The image of his mother accompanied him throughout the ride
Feihe said that although he had barely seen his mother, her presence was often with him along the way.
On October 23rd, he saw a mother walking with several children across the street. For some reason, he thought of his own mother cooking for her children in Yunnan. “I wonder how many kids Mom has now, and whether her family is happy.”
On October 29th: While on his way to Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Feihe received a call from his colleague Li Dandan. The colleague said a sister would contact him. Later that afternoon, the sister bought him a lot of fruit to take on the road. “I was really touched. After saying goodbye to her, an image popped into my head: what if my mom bought me fruit? What if she were right here with me now... I almost cried just thinking about it.”
On November 6th, he spent the day climbing hills, and the 120-kilometer ride felt more like 200. “I was so tired!” It was the only day he couldn’t eat. That evening, he spent 6 yuan on a bowl of tomato and egg drop soup. Feihe said he weighed 115 jin (57.5 kg) when he started the trip, but by that day, he was down to 110 jin (55 kg).
That night, after checking into a hotel, he sat exhausted and spaced out. Feihe said he suddenly missed his colleagues a lot. As he got closer to his mother and farther from familiar surroundings, he felt an inexplicable worry and a sense of unfamiliarity—“Mom, will my arrival make you happy?”
On November 11th, Feihe wrote in his diary: “Mom, I’ve been cycling for 21 days. Tomorrow I’ll reach Kunming, just over 140 kilometers away from you. Thinking about the long-awaited hug tomorrow, I’m tired but also very excited right now. Goodnight, Mom.”
At 0:45 AM on November 12th, Feihe sent a text message to the reporter: “I couldn’t fall asleep tonight...”
He had tried calling Feihe after 11 PM the previous night but couldn’t get through. Perhaps, not disturbing them at this moment was the best blessing for the mother and son.