Chinese teenager cycles 2,500km along coast to get to university in time for new academic year

A young Chinese woman rode her bicycle nearly 2,500km along China’s northeastern coast to arrive at her university campus for the new academic year, a regional newspaper reported.

Yang Wanying, 19, was admitted into the computer science programme at Yangzhou University in Jiangsu province, near Shanghai, according to the Yangtse Evening News.

But she resides in Hulin city in Heilongjiang province to the north, bordering Russia.

Having previously undertaken long treks with her father, Yang decided to pedal the distance – 2,464km in all.

It took 23 days, according to the News, and she suffered numerous flat tyres. When the rain wasn’t almost blowing her off the road, she was baking under the intense sun. She subsisted on biscuits and pickles.

“There are many things that can’t wait,” she was quoted as saying. “If we don’t do it now, we might never be able to do it.”