Lu-Hai Liang

Inner Mongolia

I have not really traveled in China. The kind of travel where I’d leave my “home” of Beijing, jump on a train and end up somewhere. And then I’d need to figure out where my next stop would be.

That, to me, is travel.

You might not see places that are listed on the “Top 10 Amazing Landscapes You Have To See Before You Die“, but in its place are irrevocable insights and experiences.

It is also the hardest logistically, emotionally and physically. But that is why it is the most rewarding.

What most of us do is buy a plane ticket, head to a large city, and go to a booked hotel, or stay with a friend. That’s something we’ve all done, and we call it travel. But how often do we travel in the manner of not knowing our destination?

A big part of my reluctance to travel in China is the uncertainty, laziness and fear that traps me in safe, secure routine. It’s a box I need to forcibly break out of.

China is huge. Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai are, in descending order, its four most massive provinces, each a world in themselves.

I want to see them. But of course, life might get in the way…