Travel expert with 13 years and 82 countries under his belt to road trip across the U.S. with Tony Leung

　　  Hei Jian, a Chengdu native born in northern China. Since 2000, over 13 years, his footsteps have covered 82 countries across seven continents. Had it not been for his upcoming self-drive trip from Chengdu to Tibet on the 16th, he might have been exploring some corner of the globe. This August, he will also embark on a road trip along the U.S. West Coast with Tony Leung, starting from Los Angeles.

　　  From initially traveling on a budget with tour groups to now having companies actively sponsor him; from being a pure sightseer to now documenting travel insights in blogs. If his initial travels were about fulfilling a dream, now he’s finding life’s meaning through the journey.

　　Not tall, with dark skin, the reporter met Hei Jian at a hotel in Chengdu. “I’m here this time for the self-drive trip from Chengdu to Tibet starting on the 16th. Then in August, I’ll set off from Los Angeles with Tony Leung and others to drive along one of the most beautiful routes on the U.S. West Coast.”

　　Speaking of his original travel motivation, Hei Jian admitted it was to chase a dream. In 1997, while working as a program producer at Guangzhou TV Station, he was shooting a travel show in Taiwan when he was diagnosed with a health issue. “A woman I saw in the same clinic left a deep impression on me—she passed away unexpectedly. The fragility of life strengthened my dream to explore the world within my limited time.”

　　At that time, Hei Jian became somewhat pessimistic about the length of his own life. He said his father lived only to 46, and his mother to 55. That’s why he often says: even if I can’t control the length of my life, I can control its width.

　　And the way he expands the width of his life is through travel.

　　Starting with the National Day holiday in 2000, Hei Jian spent 13 years traveling to 82 countries across seven continents, including Antarctica. The total cost was 370,000 RMB. “For travel, I even sold an apartment I owned in Guangzhou. In 2010, for a trip to Fiji’s New Southwest, I sold my car cheaply at the dealership.” Hei Jian used up seven passports in all his travels, with noticeable differences in the photos in each. “In my first passport, I looked a bit puffy—now I look much better, don’t I?”

　　In 2002, Hei Jian went for another medical check-up and found that his illness had miraculously disappeared.

　　In the early days of his travels, Hei Jian worked while traveling, relying mainly on “Golden Weeks” and annual leave for holidays. “I used Spring Festival, Labor Day, National Day, and annual leave to travel every quarter.” In the beginning, like most tourists, he joined tour groups for cursory visits. With too many people traveling during Golden Week, Hei Jian came up with various ways to travel off-peak. “I figured out how to negotiate with my boss to work during holidays without affecting my job, and travel on regular days.” His travel style gradually shifted to independent travel. In 2008, Hei Jian quit his job to become a full-time traveler.

　　To save up for travel expenses, Hei Jian worked hard to “increase income and reduce expenditure”: modeling for print magazines, doing voiceovers for TV ads and animations, selling lyrics he wrote, and even renting out rooms in his small apartment by dividing it... He carefully researched which countries had the cheapest visas, how to buy the most economical flights, and where to stay most affordably.

　　In 2011, during the New Year, Hei Jian learned that there were cruises from the U.S. to Antarctica for island circumnavigation, and he decided to seize the opportunity. “A trip to Antarctica costs 50,000 RMB, and landing on the continent requires an additional 20,000 RMB. Back then I simply didn’t have enough money, so it was the first time I thought of seeking sponsorship.”

　　At that time, Hei Jian and his blog “Traveling 40 Countries” were already very popular online. When he went to Antarctica, some TV stations did reports, and Hei Jian seized the chance to successfully secure sponsorship of 70,000 RMB from an insurance company. “That covered the cruise fare, and I also contacted travel buddies I’d been with before, saving 20,000 RMB on the flight to land on the island. In the end, my Antarctica trip didn’t cost me a penny—I even made 20,000 RMB.”

　　Hei Jian has visited 82 countries, spending an average of 4,000 RMB per country, including purchases of local products abroad.

　　In 2006, Hei Jian registered his blog “Traveling 40 Countries” and began sharing his travel reflections online. He had just returned from Finland, his 40th country. The purpose of starting the blog was simply to tell others that traveling is not just for the wealthy.

　　Hei Jian visited Bangladesh to see flood victims, squeezing onto trains with locals; he ventured into conflict-ridden Pakistan and witnessed a Pakistani official being shot just 30 meters away from him; in Kenya, he was chased by several men and nearly lost his life after taking a photo of a woman and her child... He meticulously documented everything he encountered during his travels on his blog.

　　In 2010, Hei Jian’s “Traveling 40 Countries” was named one of the “Top Ten Blogs in China,” the only travel blog to receive this honor. He finally had reason to answer why he gave up his producer position: my blog can be among China’s top ten, but could I ever be among the top ten producers?

　　And every blog post he published tugged at his fans’ hearts. “When I went to Pakistan, it was in turmoil. Many netizens advised me not to go, but I went anyway. Later, they were very concerned and even said that if the blog wasn’t updated, it meant I was in trouble in Pakistan.” To thank his followers, Hei Jian also shared tips on traveling off-peak and choosing cheap flights on his blog.

　　The blog also became a tool for Hei Jian to invite fellow travelers. “Whether going to Antarctica or Pakistan, I invited travel buddies to join me via my blog. For the August road trip with Tony Leung in the U.S., I also invited friends to come along on the blog.”

　　Many people think that someone who has traveled to over 80 countries, like Hei Jian, must be very good at English. In fact, Hei Jian is someone who barely knows any English. “I don’t speak foreign languages, but I’ve thought of many ways to communicate with people, and I’ve also shared these methods with my blog followers.”

　　Now, whenever Hei Jian visits a city with a Chinese community, he heads straight to the local Chinatown. There, he gives out his self-designed “magic scarves” to locals and exchanges them for local dialects. “I mainly learn everyday conversational phrases, like how to get to the bus stop or how to reach tourist attractions.” Another advantage of going to Chinatowns is that he can find very affordable accommodation.

　　To remember those “dialects,” Hei Jian turns the phrases he learns into funny Chinese. These include phrases for bargaining, asking for directions, or complimenting someone’s looks. He also writes these down on his blog for friends who want to visit those countries as reference.

　　Hei Jian says: “Going to a place and learning the local commonly used language is actually a very wonderful cultural experience. Through this kind of language exchange, you can easily build a friendly relationship with the locals, which adds a lot of fun to your journey.”