A group photo of Yin Liang (left) and Liu Guo at the start of their journey.
At graduation season, Yin Liang and Liu Guo, graduate students from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, have cycled all the way from Wuhan to Nanjing, passing through 18 cities and counties including Ezhou, Jingdezhen, Wuyuan, Wuzhen, Shanghai, and Suzhou along the way. Yesterday in Nanjing, Liu Guo posted a Weibo message: "A 12-day, 1,300-kilometer cycling adventure has come to an end!"
Yin Liang and Liu Guo are 2009 master's students in the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and are also fellow villagers from Shandong. They had just received their diplomas on the 5th of this month, had already secured jobs, and so planned to "go wild once" at graduation by taking a special trip.
A few weeks ago, they had already mapped out their route: starting from Wuhan, passing through Ezhou, Huangshi, and Daye, exiting Hubei via Yangxin into Jiangxi, admiring the scenery of Jingdezhen and Wuyuan, then entering Zhejiang via Changshan, with must-visit spots including Hangzhou, Wuzhen, and Jiaxing. Their next stops were Shanghai and Suzhou, before finally arriving in Nanjing.
On the 8th of this month, they officially set off. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, they spent their time on their bicycles. In each city they visited, if they had friends there, they stayed with them; if not, they stayed in hotels.
Bicycle travel wasn’t as idyllic as imagined — it rained on seven of the 12 days, and the two had to push on despite the downpour. Along the way, Liu Guo had four flat tires, and when they reached Changshan, his bike chain broke. With no replacement available in the entire county, they had to make do and keep going.
Yesterday, they finally arrived in Nanjing. After visiting the Presidential Palace and the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Liu Guo posted a Weibo message: "A 12-day, 1,300-kilometer cycling adventure has come to an end!" because he had received a call from his employer and had to report for work, while Yin Liang planned to cycle all the way back to Shandong. The two calculated their expenses for the 12 days and found that each had only spent a little over 1,000 yuan.
They excitedly said, "The first two days felt especially tiring, but it got better afterward. This trip taught me that everything is difficult at the beginning, but you can also find joy in it. Cycling allows you to get closest to nature, and if I had more time, I’d really love to travel around the world!"