A young man from Hangzhou has found himself in the media spotlight for following the rules of a self-imposed challenge that would result in him taking 5 days to travel from his home city to Qingdao, via Nanjing, at a cost of just ¥200.
Described by the media as a post-Millennium “wide boy” (小伙), Xiao Yu (小俞) is nuts about buses. The young lad recently set himself a challenge; to travel to Qingdao utilising only inter-city buses, local buses and metro systems.
As such, he would need to pass through Nanjing, Yangzhou, Huai’an, Lianyungang, Rizhao and other cities. It’s an 800-kilometre trip.
On day 1, Yu took the 304 bus from Hangzhou to Deqing County in Zhejiang’s Huzhou City, that lies just across the border from Jiangsu, on the southern shores of Lake Tai. He then took another bus that got him as far as Changxing County in Huzhou.
This is where alert readers will have picked up on the fact that Yu had permitted himself the use of inter-city buses, not inter-provincial buses.
For one thing, inter-provincial buses are more expensive, and Yu simply didn’t have the budget. For another, his self-imposed rules meant he now had to get off the bus and walk across the provincial border between Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
Now Yu was on his way to Nanjing. The next day, he took buses in both Yixing and Liyang to arrive in the Southern Capital, whereupon he jumped on the Nanjing metro to cross the mighty Yangtze River, so that he could then take various buses to Yangzhou City.
On day 3, he left Yangzhou and took buses to Gaoyou, Baoying and Huai’an City.
On day 4, Yu left Huai’an, passed through Shuyang and Donghai, and arrived in Lianyungang. Being a city close to the border with Shandong Province, Yu then took a bus to the border and guess what?
He walked across the border again.
Bus C501 then got him to Rizhao City of Shandong Province, after which, on day 5, Yu finally made it to Qingdao, reported The Paper on Monday, 24 August.
By the time he arrived, Yu had, all in all, made 40 transfers between various types of public transport, all the while adhering to the rules of his self-imposed challenge. And the whole 800-kilometere trip had cost him just ¥200.
After Yu’s story was reported by Hangzhou local media, some netizens called him “idle”, while others expressed their understanding and support, for him focusing on the process rather than the destination.
President of the Zhejiang Society of Social Sciences, Yang Jianhua, also had praise for Yu, saying that young people should be encouraged to use the time of their youth to put their hobbies and dreams into action.
