Making 'my way' the highway

As Zhang Jinpeng concludes his 10th university lecture, thunderous applause rises in the packed university hall. The 32-year-old backpacker is soon surrounded by a gaggle of excited students, all clearly in awe of him.

"I do not want them to stop looking for jobs and go traveling," Zhang says. "I just want to use my own experience to tell them life can be more interesting if you follow your heart."

From glacier-covered valleys to endless prairies, from serene ancient towns to bustling modern metropolises, the globetrotter has spent most of the past 10 years on the road.

His travel journal Ten Years On My Way now ranks third in Amazon's best-seller list in China and has been reprinted six times in two months.

But 10 years ago, Zhang did not have the faintest clue that he would become a professional traveler; nor did he imagine that he would find himself on the Amazon list.

He was just a fresh graduate, like those at his lecture, anxious and confused about the future.

A graduate from one of the nation's prestigious universities - Tianjin's Nankai University - in 2001, Zhang faced the same choices that most Chinese students face: Find a job, go abroad for further studies or sit the national entrance exams for post-graduate schools.

"My parents wanted me to find a secure job; most of my classmates had also chosen that path. So I just followed the crowd," Zhang recalls.

The straight-A graduate worked for a logistics company and a finance company for one year before that life got to him.

"I wore a dark suit, burgundy tie and perfectly polished black shoes, I worked in well-equipped high-rise office buildings, I had to befriend assorted colleagues and cater to my boss' taste," Zhang frowns. "My life was like a black and white movie, not the colorful and lively one I yearned for."

His friends tried to persuade him not to quit, citing the tight job market.

"An 'iron rice bowl' guarantees you a future with a car and a house, which is the ultimate goal for most Chinese," Zhang says. "But that's not the life I wanted."

Not sure about what to do next, Zhang picked a post-graduate degree in the Netherlands.

In his spare time the nature lover laced up his boots, shouldered a pack, and roamed around Europe.

It was during a trip in 2003 to Nice, France, that Zhang found his calling.

One afternoon the backpacker was heading in the wrong direction when a passer-by offered him a free ride to his destination.

"Love is a circle," the elderly woman said, turning down Zhang's reward. "My son is traveling in Asia. If he meets difficulties in China, I hope someone will help him out just as I have helped you."

It suddenly dawned on the young traveler that "the meaning of life is better discovered on the road than at one place". He decided to travel as much as he could and record and share his experiences in his blog, which later became his book Ten Years on My Way.

To pay for his travels, he took on odd jobs and also freelanced for travel magazines.

Zhang says he could have gone on like this for a long time. But thanks to the popularity of his travel blogs and various magazine articles, invitations by tourism bureaus of many foreign countries began to pour in.

"Traveling is now my job," Zhang says. "That's fantastic."

Referring to his lectures to university students in China he says, "I don't think they will follow in my footsteps as my lifestyle will not suit everyone.

"But I tell them it is important to find their own passion and keep at it, and success may be waiting just round the corner."

China Daily

(China Daily 01/05/2011 page20)