He is a young man born in the 1980s. After graduating from university, he worked in sales at a company in Shanghai. Just as his career was flourishing and he was about to be promoted to supervisor, he chose to quit his job to pursue his dream. He wrote a book titled My Youth on the Road to mark the end of his 136-day “crazy journey,” and is planning to realize his youthful dreams once again. His name is Zheng Sheng, and he is also known as the “solo cycling knight who crossed Eurasia.”
Zheng Sheng, a 23-year-old young man from Yunnan, graduated from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, where he majored in industrial design. After graduation, he became a sales representative at a well-known company in Shanghai. His diligent work attitude quickly made him a “key talent” targeted for development within the company. However, just as the company was about to announce his promotion to sales supervisor, he resolutely chose to resign. The reason? To fulfill an unfulfilled dream of his youth — to leave behind unforgettable memories of his younger years.
During his university years, Zheng Sheng had taken several solo cycling trips, leaving his footprints in places such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jinggangshan, and Lhasa. Crossing Eurasia was an idea that suddenly struck him. But this idea didn’t just pass by fleetingly. After meticulous planning, he turned this vision into reality.
And so, alone, with just one bicycle, he cycled nearly 15,000 kilometers from Shanghai to London, crossing 11 countries. Along the way, Zheng Sheng endured blizzards and scorching sun, loneliness and hunger; he trekked over mountains and rivers, crossed deserts, and even encountered being “stalked” by wild animals. In the end, after 136 days, he arrived at his destination — under the Big Ben in London — having spent only 13,000 yuan.
Achieving this dream was no easy feat. “I got sick once, was robbed by foreign police, had things stolen, and even spent a night sleeping in a cemetery!” Zheng Sheng recalled his journey. “But there was much more to gain — I met friendly companions, kind-hearted fellow countrymen, warm Belgians, and countless beautiful landscapes along the way.”
Speaking of this crazy journey, Zheng Sheng said that it was all under the guise of youth — the restlessness of youth drove him to do something “out of the ordinary.” “These things were crazy enough, dazzling enough, unconventional enough, even shameful enough. But so what? I will eventually return to the city and become one of the masses. Yet that isn’t pitiful — instead, I have memories of having been on the edge.”
London is not just the end of a youthful dream but also a reckoning with that dream. Zheng Sheng said that he is still young and still has dreams. His next dream is to form an expedition team and embark on an adventure to Antarctica. In his book My Youth on the Road, he tells his peers who have dreams but lack the courage to pursue them: they must dare to chase their dreams and find the bravery to take that first bold step.