The video follows the intrepid journey across China by a traveler who aims to shatter preconceived notions about the country. Through the lens of a hitchhiking attempt spanning over 2000 kilometers, the host challenges the stereotype that China's rigid systems make such adventures impossible. The escapade features interactions with a wide range of individuals, including truck drivers and the police, revealing a side of China not often portrayed in mainstream media.

This cinematic trek highlights the gritty tales encountered along the way, from navigating language barriers to unexpected acts of kindness. The traveler experiences cultural hospitality firsthand, with strangers going out of their way to help him. Elements of the journey showcase the unpredictability of hitchhiking, with car rides in diverse vehicles and overnight stays in unusual locations like a wind turbine factory, underscoring an authentic narrative that juxtaposes common perceptions of China.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. preconceived notions [ˌpriːkənˈsiːvd ˈnoʊʃənz] - (n.) - Ideas or beliefs formed before having actual knowledge or experience. - Synonyms: (prejudices, assumptions, biases)

The video follows the intrepid journey across China by a traveler who aims to shatter preconceived notions about the country.

2. escapade [ˈɛskəˌpeɪd] - (n.) - A reckless adventure or wild prank. - Synonyms: (adventure, exploit, spree)

The escapade features interactions with a wide range of individuals, including truck drivers and the police.

3. juxtaposes [ˌdʒʌkstəˈpoʊzɪz] - (v.) - Places side by side often for comparison or contrast. - Synonyms: (contrasts, compares, sets against)

An authentic narrative that juxtaposes common perceptions of China.

4. cinematic [ˌsɪnəˈmætɪk] - (adj.) - Having qualities characteristic of a film. - Synonyms: (filmic, visual, pictorial)

This cinematic trek highlights the gritty tales encountered along the way.

5. intrepid [ɪnˈtrɛpɪd] - (adj.) - Fearless; adventurous. - Synonyms: (fearless, brave, daring)

The video follows the intrepid journey across China by a traveler.

6. stereotype [ˈstɛriəˌtaɪp] - (n.) - A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. - Synonyms: (cliché, generalization, caricature)

The host challenges the stereotype that China's rigid systems make such adventures impossible.

7. underscoring [ˈʌndərˌskɔːrɪŋ] - (v.) - Emphasizing or drawing attention to something. - Synonyms: (emphasizing, highlighting, accentuating)

Overnight stays in unusual locations like a wind turbine factory, underscoring an authentic narrative.

8. barriers [ˈbæriərz] - (n.) - Obstacles that prevent movement or access. - Synonyms: (obstacles, hurdles, hindrances)

From navigating language barriers to unexpected acts of kindness.

9. hospitality [ˌhɑːspɪˈtæləti] - (n.) - The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. - Synonyms: (warmth, friendliness, reception)

The traveler experiences cultural hospitality firsthand.

10. stereotypes [ˈstɛriəˌtaɪps] - (n.) - Widely held fixed and oversimplified images or ideas of particular people or things. - Synonyms: (clichés, generalizations, formulas)

Challenges the negative stereotypes often associated with China's freedom and social dynamics.

The Side of China The Media Won't Show You

So far, my travels across China have made international headlines. Why? Because apparently, if you show this country in a positive light, you must be making communist propaganda. And I'm sick of it. It's time to put China to the real test. Join me as I attempt to hitchhike over 2000 km rough camp in the strangest of places. Smoke up with cops and travel with a man that may or may not go on to become the most famous Chinese truck driver on planet earth.

Since China is the freedom denying, social credit scoring, western hating country that many believe it is, then none of this should be possible, should it? Right then, boys and girls, we have got a mission on our hands. Today I've come to the edge of the city, Jia Yaguan, and we're going to try to do 500 km today. The plan generally is if I can aim for 500 km.

Hello, brother. How are you? Good to meet you. Nama. Nice to meet you. Where are you from? England. I like your car, bro. BMW? German car. So if we can do 500 km a day, we can get to Beijing in four days? That's the plan. We might have a rest day. We might not be able to do it, but let's give it a good old go. I've got this piece of paper written in Chinese that basically says who I am and what I'm trying to do, and it's really, really helpful.

Okay. Okay. One person. Yeah. Can I come with you? As far as Zhang? Yeah. Okay. Yay. We've made some friends. They're gonna take me to Zhang. Yeah, nihao. Okay. No, no, no. I sit at the back. Thank you. Right, so we've got our lift with these guys. They are driving dangerously fast, which is good and bad. I've seen too many videos recently of car crashes. We'll get there quickly.

Right. They might be driving very dangerously, but they have got eggs, boiled eggs, to give me, which is very nice of them. He said I'm sitting in the front, so then I'm the waiter, so I need to give them the eggs which are in the front. Chinese Red Bull. I think this is actually illegal in the UK because of how much caffeine it contains.

They're gonna change their route so that they can take me further than they were going to. They're actually taking me about twice as far as they were originally gonna take me. Right, this is gonna be a quick change over here and a dodgy one. This is the part where things get dangerous because you're walking on the hard shoulder of a highway in China. But it has to be done, unfortunately.

I'm out here in the middle of nowhere on the highway. I've just seen this. I don't know if you can see that. Looks like a cemetery of some kind. Should we go and check it out? There are these mounds. This looks like a headstone here. Maybe these are gravestones. These are the kind of cool things you find when you don't take the trains or the buses.

Right? There's a police car here, and I think I'm probably going to be in a bit of trouble. I'm heading east. If you could just drop me off at the next service area, that would be amazing. Okay, thank you. And that is how you get a free ride from the Chinese police in China. They were lovely. They said you're not allowed on the highway because it's dangerous. So just flag down the next car.

But they said, look, this is a service area. You can sleep here, you can eat here and whatever. So I'll take a quick break, and then I'll try and get back on the road. Notionally, I'm heading east this way. I'm eventually trying to go to Beijing, but tonight I will camp somewhere in a scenic area. Where are you going, woman? Could you drop me here? It's okay.

Again, is the major downside of traveling in China without speaking the language. You just get lost in translation over everything I'm trying to say. Like, I looked at the map, the route that they're taking, and there's a campsite that I can sleep at, which is directly on the road. But they think I want to go to the national park, so they're like, we can't take you there. Another great thing about China is that everyone gives me cigarettes all the time.

I will walk. Thank you. Bye, nice people. It's the second time today that we are on the highway. Let's hope that the police don't stop us again. I haven't got a clue where we are, but I saw on Google maps that there is a campsite close to here. And if there isn't, then we'll just camp here somewhere in that village, right?

I think this is the place. Am I going to get robbed and murdered and have my organs harvested? Hello, sir. Okay, I can camp here. Okay. Yeah, I have. That's okay. I will survive. Where? I don't understand. Are these places for sleeping? Just here? Okay. Thank you. Bye.

I said I can sleep in your campsite over here, and he was like, you need to go and register. I was like, okay, cool. Where do I register? And then he took me here and said, I can camp here. It's an abandoned Chinese construction yard. He said, oh, I'll take you to the place where you can register. It's the place where they make wind turbines. It's an abandoned wind turbine factory.

World's creepiest place ever. What the actual..? Where am I? I don't want to sleep here. Hey, a foreign dude just rocked up for the first time in ages. Should we send him to the abandoned Chinese wind turbine factory across the road for a laugh? I don't want to sleep here, but I don't think I've got much choice really. Now, fortunately for us, there is a petrol station here with food and drinks.

So, hey, it's not all that bad. Forget two cold beers. There's nothing left to do in this abandoned Chinese wind turbine factory than crack open a delicious and wait for the morning to come around. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Right then, chaps, we've left the weird wind turbine yard and we're heading east to Beijing.

We're making very good progress. I'd say we're between a quarter and a third of the way there in one day, which is very, very good. I'd call that very good preparation for today. That was the worst day ever. Although we have to deal with the fact that the closer you get to Beijing, the more directions there are for people to be traveling in, which makes it difficult. So we're going to head south to Baiyin and we'll head east from there.

The old trusty laminated piece of paper. This guy's going to the next town, right? I want to go way further than that. I want to go east to Beijing. And this is a toll station, right? So I'm sure there'll be people that are going further. I've just said goodbye to the only ride I'm going to get today. I'm wearing this velvet shirt, right? For some dumb reason.

Which might be the hottest material in the world, I've just learned. It's only taken me three weeks to learn. Where are you going in Chinese? So this lovely tack, this lovely truck drivers, he's stopping here in the town. Number one thing you don't want to be when you're hitchhiking is in the middle of a town.

It's difficult to get out of. You end up having to get a taxi to the edge of town. It's just a bummer. Thank you so much. Okay, bye. So I ended up having to get a taxi to the edge of town. But Mike, you said you were gonna hitchhike all the way to Beijing. It's extremely difficult when you're in the middle of a city. She didn't even drop me off where I wanted her to drop me off. Yes. I have already eaten. Thank you.

That guy on the street was just like, come over here. And then he gave me a bottle of water, and then he said, is your country better or is my country better? And I said his country was better. Yeah, I will just stand here and get some lifts from people. I'm at a toll station. We love a good toll station.

This is the thing. You get stopped and they're like, oh, you know, I'll help you. Come with me. And I'm like, no, it's okay. I can do it. I just need to be over there. Brother, where are you from? London. Exactly. I'm from London. You speak English in the afternoon, I would say. Okay. Thank you so much.

So I was trying to hitchhike on the toll road. There's a police station right here. So the police brought me in to question me, and they went and bought me some lunch, which is just incredible. We absolutely love Chinese police. Okay, thank you so much. So after buying me a free meal, these guys are gonna help me to hitchhike.

They're gonna try and stop some cars for me that are heading in the direction that I want to go in. It's just the best, right? Come on. We've got a guy that's going an hour up the highway. Shindun. It's okay, sir. Thank you so much for your help. Bye, brother. Thank you. Bye brother. Wow, thank you so much.

This guy I was driving with yesterday showed me this really good Chinese song, so I'm playing on his Bluetooth. This is the worst day of hitchhiking I've ever had. I've just been stood here for an hour. I'm just gonna go and speak to truck drivers, try and make some friends. Lovely.

No idea, bro. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chef. Thank you, guys. Goodbye. Goodbye. See you. Bye. These guys just stopped. They couldn't give me a ride, but they've given me loads of snacks. Juices and milks and strawberry snacks. Thank you. Bye bye. See ya.

Right. Whose idea was it to hitchhike to Beijing? This is absolutely ridiculous. What if I just can't? Do you know what I mean? What if I just don't get there. These people are like, we'll take you somewhere, and then you can get a car and a train, and it's a ride, so I'm gonna take it.

I have no idea where they're going, but it's away from this service station. Thank you. Sorry, my bag is very big. Amazing. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You helped me so much. People keep giving me drinks, and I have quite literally nowhere to put them except inside me.

So that was a really wicked couple I met. Really cool Chinese couple. They said, why don't you come with us, and you can take a bus to Beijing? And I was like, oh, that sounds so nice. But I haven't made the most of this tent yet. And I said we were gonna hitchhike. We're gonna hitchhike.

It might take us a week. It can't take me a week. I have to be back in Hanoi in less than a week. Also, I'm coming up with a new hitchhiking strategy. Instead of being like, hey, translate. I'm trying to hitchhike. I'm from the UK. I'm just gonna walk up to people and I'm gonna say, hey, Nihau.

Nihal Nutinali. Where are you from? I'm England. I know, but Nutrinali, where are you? Where are you going? I'm working here. Very cool. Okay, I need to go. I'll see you later. So as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by that rude Chinese man. I'm joking. He was lovely.

I'm just gonna walk up to people and I'm just gonna say, can I have a lift? Can I have a lift, please? That's all I'm gonna say. The plan is if I can just hang around the service area for a while, make some friends, and then head east with them. That's the new plan.

Jiangsu here is gonna try to help me. I don't know how. The problem is I can't get to the promise. Yes, he promises to help me. No one can drop me off at the junction because it's on the highway and very few people are turning left. It's complicated. I'll show you on a map.

But I found another road, a secret road where there might be cars on. Let's check it out. Aha. The secret road that goes underneath the highway and heads in the direction I want to be going in? We are friends. Yes, we are friends. Take you on a journey. Okay. I put my bags here.

He's saying he's gonna take me on a journey, and as long as if it's off this highway, then let's do it. No idea what's going on. Shanghai. My home. Very far from home. Why are you so far from home? My wife. Your wife is here? Okay, so this chap's helping me out really big style.

He's just picked up his two road building mates. My home. Yang Zhou. Okay, well, next time I am in Changjia. Okay. I'll give you a call. Okay. Thank you, brother. Nice to meet you. Take care. Thank you, bro. Thank you. Okay. See you.

Would you believe it? There's a toll station here. Oh, we've started another big commotion at the toll booth station again. Nihau. Everybody. I just want to head west. No, east. It is legal because I've done it many times. You're so sweet. Thank you so much. No, these are good. These are the good ones that travel very far.

All of this attention is deterring all of this attention. Where it's from. England. Ingo. I appreciate it, but they're just stopping me from working. Okay. I take everything back. I do love toll booths because we get a whole team of people stopping their own work to help me. This man's just said, wait a minute, I will help you. I have, I have.

Hi. He's asking for me. Hi, nice to meet you. The thing that's really beautiful about China and one thing that's foreigners like me from western countries are extremely privileged when they come to places like this, is how friendly and supportive everybody is to me and how everyone wants to help me.

There are so many foreigners in the world that go to certain countries and they are completely alone. No one's helping them. People even go out of their way to not help them. I can't imagine how it would feel to be in a position where I was just completely on my own and these people weren't helping me. Sidhuan. Ah, okay. Go to Beijing.

That was the worst day ever for hitchhiking. I've just been in the worst positions. I've been in the worst places. Everyone's been going the other way. The people that have stopped are going the other way. People that go in the right way haven't stopped or have stopped and then said no. And also, the language barrier is just getting really difficult. If tomorrow is the same, I might just pack it in and get a bus. So, I won't lie, yesterday wasn't a very good day, and I felt very defeated by the end of the day. However, I did find the most stunning, beautiful place to camp, and it all made up for it.

Although they did say if the shuttle bus comes past, we're going to put you on a shuttle bus halfway to Beijing. Right. We're back to it. Onwards and upwards. It's difficult after a day like that to keep faith and not to lose hope and not to want to run to the nearest bus station. I don't even know if there is one.

In my opinion, it is easier to hitchhike almost anywhere in the world that I've been to than it is to go and find some bus station in the middle of nowhere and then find the right bus at the right time.

Okay. Thank you, sir. Wow. Beautiful picture. Beautiful.

The lovely men at the toll booth are helping me now. Thank you. We've had the best start of the day ever. Is he going to Yulin? Okay. Thank you so much. Bye. I go to Beijing.

This is Mister Chen. I didn't know it at the time, but Mister Chen and I would go on to form a strong, meaningful bond and a friendship that would lead to him becoming the world's most famous Chinese truck driver.

Thank you so much. My guy. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. Yes, yes, yes. English, English, English. You Chinese? I am English.

Okay. This guy used to be a guard at the British embassy in China, and now he's transporting steel making materials across the country. Truckers, you wouldn't understand if you're not a trucker. We need to stop every four hours for a twenty minute break. There's a trucker thing. Thank you, sir. What? Are you coming? Melon. Melon. Melon.

So there was a big misunderstanding about where I want to go because I'm traveling to Beijing. I've just been saying that I'm going to the next place, then the next place. So he said, I'll take you to the next place. I've just found out he's going to Beijing. He's going to Hebei, which is like 300 km from Beijing. So he said, just come with me. All the way.

Yes, bro. Yeah, we're doing it. That's amazing. Thank you. We've got a long day in this truck now, boys. And we're having a very, very good day, face.

Mission for Tiger....

This is the power of science and technology. Human beings will be more and more progress. We were born in an era of enjoyment, of science and technology. Arriving in about nine hours, and for the first time in what feels like months, I'm seeing greenery and trees and forests. I was in Xinjiang, which was a desert.

Now look at this. So when you pay for things in China, everything is done on an app. Now everything is done on an app. So it's pretty convenient because you just have one app for everything. It is incredibly convenient.

Oh, yeah. By the way, my driver's name isn't Hang Zhou. I thought his name was Hang Zhou. I've been calling him Hang Zhou all day. His name is Mister Chen, which I feel bad about because he was like, my name's after f 10 hours of us traveling together. He's like, by the way, my name is Mister Chen. His name is Mister Chen, and he's one of my favorite people in the world.

Last night, I slept in Mister Chen's truck with him. Good night, Mister Chen. I said, can you help me find somewhere to park my tent? And he said, just sleep in here. He's got a bunk bed. Amazing. I love this man.

Wake up. I think you should come down and enjoy the beauty of the mountains. I'm sorry that I'm so messy. Taihang Mountain is a very famous mountain in China. It is a whole mountain range. Wow, they are very, very beautiful, Mister Chen.

The Chinese people fought against Japan, and the supreme general who died in China. Comrade Zou Kwan died here. I've definitely woke up in worse places before. We're gonna have some brekkie. I'm sweet. Thank you.

The plan is we're going to go with Mister Chen to drop off his load, and then he's going to take me to a place about 300 km from Beijing. We're going to hitchhike all the way, hopefully be in Beijing in time for dinner. Here's the goat junction. Goats.

The truck drivers have come to drop off there. Life of a Chinese truck driver, eh? Never gets easier, this job. So this stuff is some kind of material they use to make steel, and that's what Mister Chen is doing. He picks this up one side of the country, drops it off on another side. Travels all this way to drop off a few tons of steel making stuff.

So here's what's going to happen now. Mister Chen is going to take me very close to Beijing, and then I'm going to get a train into Beijing. I'll tell you why. I haven't showered, haven't changed my underwear. It's just gross. Anyone's car would be a punishment to them, so I'm gonna get a train.

Let's go Mister Chen. Let's go. He's picked up his paycheck. I'm happy for him. Let's do it. Mister Chen is walking me to the train station as we begin the last hour of our journey into Beijing.

Very hot outside. I'm telling you, man, it's hot here in Beijing. I just said goodbye to Mister Chen. His name is Mister Chen. As I ventured into the heart of the world's most populated capital city, the taste of dried beef on my tongue and the weight of the journey lingering in the air, I reflected on the past four days. I thought about the road I had traveled, and the people who made it possible.

The friendly faces at toll booths. The police officers who not only fed me but helped me find my way. And of course, Mister Chen. How fortunate I was to have been granted a window into the lives of these remarkable yet seemingly ordinary individuals. In the end, it's these wonderful everyday people who restore our faith in humanity.

China, Travel, Adventure, Inspiration, Innovation, Cultural Exchange, Mike Okay