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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.
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Latest Entries all entries
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.......
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I've checked and checked again. I've tried going through the back door..... Its basically come down to this.
I can't travel around China this year. There is no way I can travel on 30 day visas I will just have to be patient and wait until after the Olympics. Hopefully all things will go back to normal after then and longer visas will be issued........There is nothing for it......wait I must
I'll get Ditch and Wheelie back to Hong Kong and flow with things here....... so much for boosting off..
Gutted.....
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permalink | 1 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)