BERLIN, April 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 138 days. Nearly 7,000 km across China. Two Germans and two bicycles.
When German travel writer Volker Haering and his companion, Christian Y. Schmidt, set out from east China's Jiangxi Province in October 2023, they embarked on a journey through both landscape and history. Their destination was Yan'an, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, as they retraced the route of the Long March on electric bicycles.
"If you don't understand the spirit of the Long March, you cannot truly understand China," 57-year-old Haering recounted the journey at the Chinese Cultural Center in Berlin on Thursday.
He said he first heard those words more than 20 years ago from a Chinese veteran who had taken the journey. "From that day on," he said, "I knew I had to do this."
The Long March (1934-1936) was a military maneuver by the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army that later became a defining episode in modern Chinese history, symbolizing endurance and perseverance as troops crossed some of the country's harshest terrain to establish a new revolutionary base. Some marched as far as 12,500 km, enduring hunger, thirst and cold.
"The march tested human endurance to its limits, and in doing so forged a spirit of perseverance that Chinese people still draw on today," Haering told Xinhua.
According to him, Long March-themed trails, "red-themed" markers, sculpture groups, memorial halls and museums appeared along the route, not only in well-known revolutionary sites such as Ruijin and Zunyi, but also in less-visited counties, mountain passes and river crossings.
"The Long March hasn't faded from Chinese people's lives with time," he told the audience. "It has continued in a different form."
Retracing that history proved physically demanding. Long-distance cycling, especially at altitude, quickly took its toll. On freezing nights, they could barely sleep. Crossing the first snow mountain at more than 4,100 meters above sea level nearly drained them. In western Sichuan, cold, headwinds, altitude and relentless terrain made even downhill stretches challenging.
Yet, Haering said, it was in those difficult moments that he felt most strongly the kindness of the people they met.
He recalled that they were "often invited to meals," and that people would hand them oranges, bananas and other food along the way.
"Once locals learned that we were retracing the Long March route, any initial reserve quickly gave way to warmth and respect," he said. "Meeting so many kind and warmhearted Chinese people was one of the most precious parts of the journey."
Beyond the physical journey, Haering also observed how much China has changed. He first set foot in the country in 1990. Over the past three decades, he has studied in China, written several books about traveling in the country, led cycling groups through its towns and countryside, spent many years living in Beijing, and cycled more than 60,000 km across China.
"When I went to China to study Chinese in the 1990s, I didn't yet dare to cycle there," he said. "Today it's completely different."
Haering acknowledged that despite the many difficulties posed by altitude, weather and other challenges, modern infrastructure in the country had made retracing the route much easier.
"China's road infrastructure has improved dramatically over the decades and, more importantly, smarter road planning has diverted traffic and made long stretches of quiet cycling possible in many parts of the country," he said.
But the transformation, in his view, goes well beyond roads. Mobile payments, digital maps and other technologies are now deeply woven into the travel experience, reshaping the way people move across the country.
"I really do recommend that people go and see China for themselves," Haering said. "Only by being there, by traveling through the landscape, can you truly understand and feel the reality of modern China's development." ■
