Steps on the road to understanding

Kai Markus Xiong. [Photo/Provided to China Daily]

Kai Markus Xiong enjoyed a bottle of cool beer after an exhausting run, but it was not a parched throat that felt the relief. Instead, his aching ankles luxuriated in the iciness of the bottle he placed against them.

The 44-year-old German was in Russia and had just completed another stage in the grueling challenge he has set himself: a 12,000-kilometer trek on foot along the historic Silk Road.

Over the centuries, countless merchants and their camels plied the trade route linking East and West. The baggage Xiong is hauling, with the aid of an accompanying caravan, is a little less exotic than aromatic spices: clothing, food to last months, and about seven or eight pairs of running shoes.

He started his journey at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, on the banks of the Elbe, on March 12, and when he arrives in Shanghai, a sister city of Hamburg, in November it will be the mighty Huangpu River that will welcome him.

He reckons he will have taken 18.5 million steps.

His friend, Victor Neubauer, is driving the support vehicle and caravan that will help sustain them on the journey. They will rest and stock up on supplies in cities or villages en route, but if they are in the middle of nowhere they will use the caravan for warmth and rest, Xiong said.

Xiong said he will run between 50 km and 70 km a day, and every seven to nine days have a one-day rest, to explore and get a taste of the local culture wherever they happen to be.

"The main goal is to bridge cultural gaps and dismantle prejudices between Germans and Chinese," he said via the messaging app WeChat.

Xiong also has the strong support of his Chinese wife Bella, who was expecting their first child when he told her of his idea in 2014. Xiong is the family name of Bella, who comes from Hubei province.

In leaving on his venture and leaving her and his son behind, some criticized him for being selfish and irresponsible, she said, but that was wrong.

"When I was pregnant he attended to almost every detail, such as how I could be stronger during delivery, to choosing the pram. If he weren't undertaking this run he would be the same kind of caring person he always is."

Kai Markus, who was born in Bavaria, is a fitness fanatic who is particularly keen on skiing, and said that when he was young he was a lifeguard.

His interest in China comes from one of his teachers who lived there for 30 years.

After graduating from school he worked in banking for 17 years, and then, in 1998, set up a financial consulting company that has many Chinese clients, meaning he was a frequent visitor to China.

He reckons that Chinese culture and Bavarian culture are not worlds apart, as most people probably imagine. For example, both attach great importance to family ties, he said. Members of big families tend to live together and sons play an important role in their families.

However, many Germans still have a narrow outlook on China, he said, seeing it merely as a supplier of cheap — and inferior — products. That is a view he does not share.

"For example, I have had problems with my shoulder and tried most European medicines and treatments, to little effect. Much to my surprise, traditional Chinese medicine cured the ailment," he said.

It is this kind of misconception and stereotype that he hopes to help eradicate as he meets people from many different cultures along the way.

By the end of June, he had run more than 6,500 km, passing though Poland and Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and reaching Kyrghyzstan. He is expected to travel to China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region later this year.

His biggest challenge has been finding financial help with the trip, he said, but that has failed to deter him from his endeavor.

Before he set off he had to work extra hours to raise funds, so he was sleeping no more than five hours a day, he said.

"But no matter how difficult it is, I won't give up, because I've made a promise to my son and my wife."