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Back in the arms of love

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Why you can trust SCMP
Rob Lilwall

It's been about two weeks since we arrived home in Hong Kong after walking 5,000 kilometres back from Mongolia. In our final week, my cameraman Leon McCarron and I were in Guangzhou, walking through the heavily industrialised region of Dongguan.

Manufacturing towns were piled so thickly on top of one another that our route consisted of one seemingly unending muddle of twisted roads and sprawling factory complexes. Our smartphone map struggled to keep up with this rapidly changing layout.

It sometimes led us down roads that no longer existed or ended at the gates of a new development.

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The days were hot, and we enjoyed the early morning and evening the most, although the evenings included the challenge of walking down streets full of young factory workers going home.

We finally staggered into Shenzhen, and down our last mainland street to the Lo Wu border post. As I walked into Hong Kong, the immigration official narrowed her eyes at my thick beard, unsure whether I was the same person as in my passport photo. But I didn't mind. I was just happy to be crossing the border.

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The next day we started walking home through Tai Po, and then over the beautiful Wilson Trail, where monkeys lounged around in the middle of the path. We finally reached the end of Nathan Road.

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