Editor's note: the following was translated from an article that first appeared in the Beijing Morning Post. The article details yet another in a string of recent stories about travellers getting creative in their methods of heading home for the Chinese New Year holiday. This time, a university student in Shanghai that managed to hitchhike home to Lanzhou for free in under two days with the help of some kind-hearted drivers.

Traveling from Shanghai to Lanzhou in two days time for free; is such a thing possible? Apparently so, as last January, Xie Zijian, a student at Shanghai University managed to do precisely that. Instead of taking the train home, Xie opted to hitchhike from Shanghai to Lanzhou—a 2,000 km journey, passing through five provinces. Somewhat miraculously, Xie hitched 12 consecutive rides and managed get home in less than two full days. Even more incredibly, Xie spent none of the 100 RMB that he'd brought with him for potential travel expenses. In fact, he arrived at his parent's house with 150 RMB, after receiving 50 RMB from a complete stranger during his trip!

"I can't believe how many kind-hearted people are out there!"

Xie Zijian is a third year student at Shanghai University's Mechanical and Electrical Automation Institute. His hitchhiking adventure began on January 17 when he picked up his first ride out of Shanghai at 09:00. By the next evening at 20:00—a mere 35 hours later—Xie was standing at his parent's doorstep, in Lanzhou. Back home, Xie quipped that his trip had actually taken him much less time than he'd originally anticipated. He'd estimated that in a "worse case scenario", the trip it would take him at about five days and four nights to complete. 

Prior to his departure, Xie prepared a sign with the simple statement "student looking for a ride" scrawled out in marker, hoping that it'd be enough to catch the attention of some driver passing by, who'd then agree to give him a lift. As Xie recalls, that morning as he made his way out to the road and held up his sign, the first driver who saw it immediately stopped and let him in: "I was standing on the side of the highway for less than two minutes when I heard someone calling out to me." But what really touched him was that this driver, upon hearing his story and how he was only carrying 100 RMB, actually gave Xie 50 RMB! "Of course, I refused, but the driver insisted, saying he wouldn't let me out the car if I didn't take his money," Xie said.

Later that evening an episode occurred that further convinced Xie of the possible kindness of complete strangers. "That night, I headed to a small restaurant next to a gas station to look for someone willing to let me ride with them," Xie recalled. Unfortunately, no one in the restaurant was headed his way. But just as he was about to leave, one of the restaurant’s patrons called out to him: "It's getting late. You should ask around again later. Let's eat together while you wait." With no other plan, Xie accepted the man's dinner invitation, surprised by the generosity of strangers he’d been the recipient of that day. In fact, over the course of his journey from Shanghai to Lanzhou, not once did Xie pay for a meal—the strangers that he met along the way treated him time and time again.

Back in Shanghai, while preparing for his trip, Xie had packed a tent and sleeping bag to help save on accommodation costs. However, as it turns out, all that equipment was not really needed. Xie only ended up being on the road for a single night, which he spent sleeping in the back of a van that he’d been riding in: "That first night, the driver stopped a little after 20:00 and we left again the next morning at 05:00. I managed to find a few hours of sleep in between."

"There were a lot of drivers that weren't willing to pick me up."

Despite the kindness that Xie received along the way, his hitchhiking trip home was not without its fare share of rejection. "There were a lot of drivers that weren't willing to pick me up," Xie said.  According to his rough estimate, his success rate for flagging down drivers was only about one in ten. While he had the hardest time finding a ride along a highway near Xi'an, where, while standing there for over two hours with his sign out, only one driver pulled over.

In total, Xie hitched 12 vehicles during his journey home for Spring Festival: nine private cars and three freight trucks. He told reporters that his biggest regret is that, in his rush to get home, he hadn’t thought to get the drivers' contact details, noting that he "really ought to thank them" for their kindness.

This is not the first time that Xie has done such a bold act. Last April around the Tomb Sweeping holiday, he road his bicycle from Shanghai to Lanzhou. Now, fresh off the success of hitchhiking home for Chinese New Year, he's been inspired to plan another bike trip—this time along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway during the summer holiday.

Source: wenxuecity.com
 

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Keywords: student hitchhikes home for Spring Festival