Chongqing man bikes 1,800km from Shanghai to home

Feng Jianchuan, a 20-year-old restaurant worker in Shanghai, chooses to ride home by bike  for the Spring Festival in 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

There are many ways to go home, but Feng Jianchuan chose a challenging one: riding home by bike.

Feng, 20, a restaurant worker in Shanghai, kicked off his journey on January 12. He planned to arrive at his home in Liangping district, southwest China's Chongqing, on Jan 27, the eve of the Spring Festival.

The distance between Shanghai and Chongqing is about 1,800 kilometers.

"I am biking nine hours a day now," Feng told China Daily on Jan 24 evening. He was in Enshi, Hubei province, about 300 km from home.

"But I'm riding very slowly, about 100 km a day, because there are big mountains on the Chongqing and Hubei border and climbing them is hard."

Though his family is repeatedly asking him to hitch a ride home in case he could not make it by the New Year Eve, the young man said he will never give up.

"I'm feeling OK and I can eat a lot now, even fat meat which I would not take in the past," he said.

"I believe I can finish the journey and the first thing I want to do after I arrive is to have a big meal with my family."

Feng went to work in Shanghai last July but began missing home dearly lot. So he decided to return to Chongqing during the Spring Festival and start his own restaurant in the hometown.

Not sure if he could handle the hardship of starting a business, he decided to test himself by driving motorcycle from Shanghai to home.

He spent 2,500 yuan ($ 350) for the bike and other gear and saved another 2,000 yuan for accommodation and food on the road.

Along the road, he has met some challenges as well as some friendly strangers. "After I hit the road, I saw a whole new world," he said.