Father and son express gratitude by traveling to 200 Chinese cities

Pang Chuanxing and his son recall the fun stories along the journey. [Photo/Chengdu.cn]

On Monday, 43-year-old Pang Chuanxing and his son, Pang Yi, returned to their starting point in Chengdu, marking the success of their travels across China, reported by Chengdu Economic Daily.

In May, the duo started their journey across China. They drove from Chengdu and traveled to over 200 places. They reached as far as Tianyahaijiao in China's southern island province of Hainan, Heixiazi Island in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Mohe, the northernmost Chinese county in Heilongjiang Province and Mount Qomolangma.

The journey was not for the purpose of fun alone. Pang said he was so busy on working and had no time for his son. He realized his son was becoming shy and reliant on others, so he came up with the plan to travel across China teaching his son to love and grow together through the journey.

Over 170 days, the duo drove 43,031km, visited over 200 cities, took over 30,000 photos, published over 170 articles with a total of 150,000 Chinese characters. The father and the son experienced the turn of four seasons, paid visits to 120 old friends and forged friendships with new faces.

The journey was about expressing gratitude. 120 old friends were visited by Pang Chuanxing along the journey to express his gratitude.

Pang recalled that when he was young, he was bad at studying. It looks like he would have to leave school and seek a job for living. Then his friend Zhao Yong gave the opportunity of studying in high school to him. This enabled Pang to learn traditional Chinese painting and finally he was admitted into an arts academy and made a living from this skill.

“This opportunity of going to high school changed my life and I’ll never forget.” said Pang Chuanxing. 25 years later in this journey, Pang Chuanxing finally saw Zhao Yong again in Xinjiang.