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Introduction
Rob Luxton’s adventure on a three wheeled recumbent tricycle will take him 25,000km all around China, passing through every province on the mainland.
The expedition will help raise awareness and money for two Charities. Sowers Action and Care For Children. Both dedicated to improving the lives of children in poor areas throughout China.
Beginning near Hong Kong the journey is estimated to last two and half years taking him from busy cities to remote mountain villages, deserts to great plains, deep lush valleys to the the scary heights of the Tibetan plateau and finally into the jungles of the South, before returning to Hong Kong in August 2010.
Click to play the China Wheelie Promo.
China Wheelie 2009 from rob luxton on Vimeo
UPDATE
Rob is currently in Hong Kong and was all set for the next big push. Unfortunately, due to the Beijing Olympics, new visa restrictions have been put in place. All visa's now have a maximum stay period of only 30 days. It is impossible for him to continue with this kind of restriction. It would mean flying back to Hong Kong every 20 days to get a new one.
He has no choice but to wait until the restrictions are lifted. This is supposed to be in September / October...... thats when the fierce winter begins, so the journey looks like it is on hold until March 2009.
Any changes will be posted on here. In the meantime, have a read through some of the old entries or watch the video to get a better idea of whats been going on.
If you want to support Chinawheelie then please make a donation.
Even the smallest amount will help children in China.
The Chinawheelie Donati-O-Meter (US$3,901 donated so far)
Latest Entries all entries
Latest update -
Silence for so long I know. so hello again..
Many things have been happening in my life.......... I'll tell you now the result and then work back from there. After a long time off the road, visa issues and much deliberation, I've decided not to continue the journey for now.
A lot of things have happened, a lot of changes in my life have occurred over the last two years since China Wheelie came to a stand still. A big part of me wants to get up and go again, but another equally important side has become still. Not in a stagnating way, but a new type of inner searching has formed. My family have become more important to me, my work has too.
The first part of China Wheelie was as I assumed would be, perhaps the toughest. Not so much in a physical sense, but more mental. Mental in every sense actually. A continual barrage of noise, people and places. Central and Eastern China was always going to be like that. I was trying to do that part first before I boosted out into the wilder parts, the bits I was really looking forward to.... but in that time my whole being changed. Amongst all the chaos and beauty, under trees or whilst eating at various eateries I would write and sketch, trying to figure out who I was, what I was doing and imagining my future in this world.
When the only pressure you have for one year is finding a place to sleep, getting a flat tire or communicating with locals your mind has time to drift. It has time to lose its structure. It has a breathing space to simply open up. Without realising it your whole way of life changes, your way of thinking changes. Your mind becomes bigger in one sense but also shrinks in another. All the contradictions in my life came hard into focus and all my dreams did too.
Arriving back in Hong Kong was tough, very tough. Finding your feet after using wheels for so long is not an easy task. I'd lost my connection with family and friends and also society as a whole. I'd lost my communication skills in many ways.. plus I was numbed by returning to an old life as a new person. As a friend once said to me before I set off. "when you come back no one will truly understand what you have done, only you will know". People would ask "How was it?". I couldn't answer really. The whole experience was too vast to sum up. Too many things were still filtering through, peculating through my system. Each one trying to find its place, to be filed, organised, made useful. All of this happening on a subconscious level, slowly reshaping my personality.
My mind has become more quiet, less angry and frustrated, it has become more focused and able to stick to one task and see it through. The main task I am focusing on right now is rebuilding my life from the bottom up. Chinawheelie has lost its momentum for now, it will have to shift, to twist and turn and become something fresh and new in my mind. But one thing is for sure. I will finish the journey. Perhaps powered by solar or sail, or a team of Ditch's pulling me through the snow.... who knows..... but right now I am still, I am growing in other ways.
Over the past year I've been working for a company and have come to love my job and the challenges that come with it. I've come to enjoy having a firm base to build from. All my ideas I dreamt of as I cycled are slowly coming into fruition. I have a job in a construction company as a Project manager / Art Director. Right now I am building the new Grand Aquarium at Ocean Park, I've already finished the Giant Panda house. I've learnt all about construction, management, company politics, how to deal with creative people (not easy), how to pull a team together and how to manage my time better..... I've also learnt about Pandas and their extra climbing thumbs, what size ledges giant Salamanders love, whats an ideal Alligator burrow, turtles....... well they just sit there..... And just one hour before I was having a conversation about Otters with some keepers. I'm earning good money and I love waking up and going to work.
Here are some photos and a couple of videos......
Red pands or Fire Foxes !! lovely things
Have I sold out on a previous dream? Nope!. Although I was trying to help raise money for charity, the main driving force behind Chinawheelie was me searching for something. Me searching for something that I knew was not out on the road but inside me, but had to travel so many roads to find it. I am disappointed though in many ways and also very conscious that I whipped up so much energy, and got so many people involved only to let the whole thing slowly deflate like a dodgy balloon after Christmas. I have told all my sponsors, which for me feels like cutting off my own legs. They supported me and I didn't finish. This silently grinds away in my heart, but now is not the time to push on. Luckily each one of them understands.
Ditch is back in Hong Kong. She was in quarantine for 4 months, but is now back on Cheung Chau with me. I have a quiet place by the beach. A mountain behind me and the mountains of my previous Island (Lantau) in front across the Adamasta Channel. I jog in the mornings, cook at home and tinker with wood. I'm growing Cherry tomatoes and a load of other edibles on my balcony. My plan is to minimise my life to live like I was on the road but in one place. To simplify things again.
I'm still learning more about the environment and how to build in harmony with it and plan to create a space that is off the grid as an experiment. I want to learn how to be more self sufficient without having to live like a tramp.
Chinawheelie has taught me how to adapt, how to change, how to flow with things....... and that's what I'm doing now. I don't intend to just sit down and get old though. I've realised that you have to have purpose in everything you do, or else time flies by and zips straight down the toilet. I want to learn how to paraglide, para kite, how to build a 12v solar power system for my place. A portable one that is affordable. I also intend to do a Msc course in Advanced Energy Studies so I can really get rolling with building green spaces. At 34 I have a new drive. I read my old journals and sketch books from before and then the ones during Chinawheelie. The message is always the same. Adventure, creativity and the environment. My creative strengths are three dimensional, so I need a base... a place to build, to learn. Realistically I need money too if I want to build the things in my sketch books. Now is the time to push forward on a new road for now.
So ladies and gentlemen. I hope this finds you all well and thank you so much for all your support. I'll let you know whats going on and when the journey will start again....If you ever come to Hong Kong and need a guide or a random person to chat to then feel free to drop me a line.
Goodbye my friends.. until the next time !
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Well its about time I posted an entry. I've been busy, but not that busy, so no real excuses really. As you all know I've put the journey on hold until things change after the Olympics. I've been busy doing all sorts of things, mainly work related, some others that are not. On the Island I'm staying on they have a thing called the Cheung Chau Bun festival. Its all about bread buns and children on skinny sticks. Strange as it might sound but its true. I've lived in Hong Kong for years but never seen it. Well now I have.
Cheung Chau has about 50,000 residents. That's a lot of people for such a small island. The population is condensed into the lower parts of the island, an area that sits in between two small mountains / large hills. A network of alley ways creates an overwhelming, mind boggling labyrinth. I've been here for about 5 months and still I find new areas and streets. Well anyway. In this labyrinth the various activities of the festival take place.
Setting up
The whole carnival / procession culminates with Chinese opera and a mega scramble up a 60ft tower of buns. They used to be real buns carefully tied onto the bamboo tower, but nowadays they are made of plastic. I was disappointed to hear that, but that's progress. Guess you can use them every year.
The opera was great (for a short while). Chinese opera tends to grate your soul if your not versed in it. Its an amazing thing to see, but the high pitched voices and symbols crashing can send you over the edge. The problem is, is that I dont understand what is going on and it is also from a period of history I dont know and from an alien cultural view point . Even so it looks good.
I bought a new lens the other day for my Canon G9. A 180 degree fish eye. ooooo I love it. No wonder fish look so happy swimming around. Its all in the eyes you see. Pottering around taking lots of random shots. A true fish out of water.
This looks better than it tastes ???
On the star ferry.
Quick decoration project I worked on.
Fat ankled Gungfu Warrior, or Taiqi expert with flappy trousers.
Cheung Chau Beach
Cheung Chau beach, Hong Kong Time Lapse from rob luxton on Vimeo.
Helping out my friend Andy to setup three video cameras on a car. Creating footage for a 360 degrees video installation.
On the ferry from Central Hong Kong to Cheung Chau Island.
Anyway. right now I'm on Cheung Chau, sat in an internet bar with Rob Thomson (man above washing socks). He cycled from western China to Europe then skate boarded across America, now he is skating to Shanghai.
He stopped over in Hong Kong to get a new visa and is currently crashing at my place. Good to chat with someone who is a long distance veteran. Sharing stories and generally hanging out. Of course he is itching to get going again and will be off shortly. His rig is a unique setup.
He's actually pulling a trailer.... which is his old long board converted.
Since he got here it's done nothing but rain, a great contrast to the deserts he's just come from. Check out his website. 14degrees.org
He is here for a while longer then off he goes again. On a mission. I feel somewhat jealous.... if he's got itchy feet.....Mine are in absolute agony.
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Yes its the 5th of May and I am still in Hong Kong. The visa situation is still the same...... I've been finding out about getting Ditch back to Hong Kong. Not a nice thing for her to have to endure. The minimum quarantine period from a Class III country such as China is 4 months. The kennel size is 1m x 2m. Thats a tough time for a pooch. Chatting with a few people about their experiences and they say their dogs were not in a good way. Psychologically disturbed. Well.. as Ditch grew up with me she is already slightly damaged in the brain. She is already a bit nutty, but even so..... Its gotta be horrible.
I'm now looking into sending her off to France to live with a family for a short time. France could act as a transit point, from which she can return to Hong Kong with out being locked in a box. Big green fields, running free with other dogs. Thats got to be better....
I have a sneaky suspicion though that it will cost a fortune.... We shall see. What am I doing at the moment.??? I'm reading, swimming, pottering and working. Mainly the first three though. Hopefully the 4th will snap into action very soon.....I have a few plans in the pipeline.......but for the moment I'm quite enjoying taking it easy in Cheung Chau. ............Although I'd much rather be up in China pedaling away.......
If you like what you read here, please donate.
permalink | 0 comments | topIf you want to support Chinawheelie then please make a donation.
Even the smallest amount will help children in China.
The Chinawheelie Donati-O-Meter (US$3,901 donated so far)