New Delhi:
When Liqi set foot outside his house in central China last April, he was a 31-year-old man with a dream and a two-wheeled cart. Nearly a year later, he arrived in Lhasa, Tibet – his body battered, his knee injured, and his face 20 years older.
He had walked 3,300 km across mountains and valleys, through snowstorms and typhoons, sleeping under the open sky, rarely bathing, and cooking frugal meals to survive. The journey changed him in more ways than one. His hair had grown wild, his skin darkened by the sun, and his once-youthful face now carried the weight of time and struggle.
“I am 20 years older than when I started my journey,” he said, as per the South China Morning Post.
Liqi’s route was nothing short of brutal. His journey, which started in Jingzhou, Hubei, led him through some of China’s toughest terrains. Pushing his cart loaded with supplies, he climbed mountains, fought off hunger, and endured extreme weather. At one point, he was stranded on a peak during a blizzard for an entire day without food.
Wild wolves twice crossed his path. And when his cart tumbled into a ditch, breaking its wheels, he had to improvise repairs to keep moving. In the final months of his journey, a severe knee injury forced him to limp toward his destination.
With just 1,000 yuan (around Rs 12,000) a month to survive, Liqi led a minimalist existence. He cooked his own food, relying on simple ingredients, and adapted to life on the road. Some nights, he found shelter in forest protection offices or gas stations, but most of the time, the wilderness was his home.
His unruly appearance and tattered clothes became a symbol of his journey’s raw reality. But despite the hardships, he embraced the experience, dismissing claims that he was merely seeking attention.
“I just live in my own way. It is not torturing myself, but another form of challenge,” he said.
He arrived in Lhasa on March 11. With his body exhausted and his finances drained, Liqi decided to take a train home. But first, he had a few plans – his first bath in months, a much-needed haircut, and sharing his story through live streams.