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HISTORY

30 Years of Backpacking in Revolution and Leisure

How DIY travel originated in the Cultural Revolution and evolved into a modern quest for self-discovery

When Xiao Hu and his girlfriend set out last spring from Beijing with two bikes, a tent and 15,000 yuan in cash, the idea was to ride as far as their money would take them.

Starting from Xiao Hu’s hometown in Inner Mongolia, the couple planned to travel in a loop around China: hitting all the wild corners of Gansu and Qinghai, crawling up the Tibetan plateaus and landing in the lush jungles of Yunnan. It was a good 2,400 miles from their starting point. How did they prepare for the journey?

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Liz Tung is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.

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