Chinese-American backpacker tours China without a penny
Born in China, a 33-year-old American returns to his homeland to learn about its people and places without the distraction of money
Having spent much of the past decade roaming the globe as a backpacker, Chinese-American Gu Yue embarked on a three-month "travel-without-a-dime" tour of the mainland in September to learn more about the country where he was born and its people. The 33-year-old shares his experiences.
I was born in Beijing's Dongcheng district in 1979 and grew up there until I was 11, when my family emigrated to the United States. After graduating I landed a job in finance with GE in Seattle. But a sense of crisis began to set in when I was only five months into the job because finance wasn't really my cup of tea and I also realised that it wouldn't be a wonderful life to have only two weeks of annual leave. In 2003 I decided to give myself a six-month gap before the next job to enjoy life like a young man. The gap went on for another two years and then longer, to where I am now.
I have travelled a lot in China since I relocated to Beijing, my birthplace, in 2006, but I did it most of the time as a tourist doing sightseeing. But if you travel with no money, you are somehow deprived of being self-sustaining and you need to mingle with people from all walks of life to make it. You get to know people not just as a customer but as someone closer to their lives. For instance, I and my travel partners lived with a group of homeless people at a Chengdu railway station for 24 hours in October. On another occasion we were given a ride to Chongqing by a local who drove an expensive Land Rover SUV and we were invited to stay at his two-storey villa for a night. You sometimes need to allow yourself to go a bit wild to enjoy the thrill of all the uncertainties.