I returned to Korea on August 11 after one month of my two year world bike trip. The reason that I came back to Korea was due to a problem regarding my visa extension. When I went to China, I already knew that China had strengthened its control over foreigners and restricted visas because of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That situation made me so uncomfortable because I couldn't extend my visa in China, resulting in my return to Korea. When I stayed in Korea for a week, I prepared for my visa reissuance and tried to make up for the insufficiencies of my last tour. Then, I left for Qingdao, China, on August 19. My original plan was to go to Dandong. I excluded Beijing from my tour because of excessive control over foreigners and high prices.

I planned a schedule centering on famous tourist resorts for this tour. I passed by Nanjing, which is famous as the location where the Rape of Nanking happened and the Japanese army committed many atrocities in World war Ⅱ. Then, I went to Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are very beautiful cities and good to live in, before going to Shanghai, where the Korean provisional government was situated. I also went to the number one mountain in China, Mt. Hwang, which is famous for a proverb: "Don't talk about mountains in China until you see Mt. Hwang." Afterwards, I went to Jingdezhen, the first pottery village in China, established over 2000 years ago. In total, I rode a bike about 4200 km to a small city, Zijin, near Shenzhen.

It is hard to see any mountains in eastern China because most of the land is very flat. Hence, I rode a bike for 90km a day comfortably, enabling me to see many things and feel the real China. I received help from my many acquaintances in China. A Korean company president who I didn't know offered me a meal and quarters, and I also received support and pocket money from a group of Korean tourists. Chinese tourists who I met in China helped me as tour guides and treated me to a meal as a guest. There were some people who said, "You're the best," raising their thumbs at me when they passed by in their cars and shouting "jiayou" (“Go! Go!" or "Come on!” in English) powerfully. At that time, I could feel everyone in China was my supporter.

I felt a lump in my throat when I visited Shanghai. The Korean provisional government in Shanghai was established in April 1919 and situated there for six years. I felt the efforts of the national independence movement in that they came to Shanghai, far away from Korea, and established the Korean provisional government through their own efforts. I just learned from my history classes there was a Korean provisional government in Shanghai, but I didn't know about their achievements. Through this visit to Shanghai, I could feel the historic moment with my own eyes.

Chinese friends from Shanghai who I met in Hangzhou became guides for me and cared in detail about things such as treating me to a meal, offering quarters, and providing information about how to extend my visa. Although they looked young, their efforts to seek their future dreams looked very beautiful.

Even though I have ridden a bike for three months, I still have not left China. Koreans think that it is very far from Daegu to Seoul, but Chinese think that distance is short because you can go and return in a day. It is very interesting for me. There is a difference in the ways that everyone sees and thinks. I want to say again, I hope you think about the larger world, see more widely, and think more deeply.

My China visa will expire soon. I will go to Hong Kong and then cross to Vietnam through Shenzhen. I'm now so curious about what is waiting for me in Vietnam.



*The Gazette will continue to follow Lee Young-keun's interesting travel experiences in our newspaper. We hope you enjoy these articles.