A fine way to explore the countryside

Zach Naimon poses near the Shaolin Temple in Henan province. Photo provided to China Daily

The country's rural areas are much more intriguing than its big cities, he says.

"China's very big and the places are very different from each other."

Four years later, before going to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville as a second-year student, Naimon decided to realize one of his dreams to travel around China.

"A train trip is good but you can't see the views between railway stations. So it's much better to ride through the country. But it's very hard for a foreigner to get a license plate in China."

In early May in the United States, Naimon learned how to ride a motorcycle, and the following month he bought a motorcycle in Beijing, later riding to Nanjing to attend the Jiangsu Cup awards ceremony.

At a crossroads in the suburbs of Nanjing as he was waiting for traffic lights to turn green, he noticed a man was riding a motorcycle similar to his.

"I talked to him and we became friends. Later, we rode together with his friends to Dunhuang in Gansu province."

After Dunhuang, Naimon rode on to Kashgar, 2,200 km away. One of the most remarkable things on the road is the stretch of about 1,200 km from Qinghai Lake to Turpan, he says, because of the weather extremes.

"It was awesome. When I set out from Qinghai Lake it was about 0 C, but when I arrived in Turpan in Xinjiang it was so hot, above 40 C."