The World Is So Big, I Want to See It with My Father

One car, two people, on the road, traveling through China.

Many have imagined being with their loved one,

away from the city, spending days camping in the wilderness,

but have you ever thought about having your father as the companion?

Today, let's step into the story of a father-son duo on a self-driving trip around China.

Li Sheng, 25, born in a small county in Chongqing,

grew up in the millennium era. At 18, he fell in love with travel and photography,

and his footsteps have covered North Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Li Changhe, 59, retired.

He served in the military when young,

and has never left Sichuan in his lifetime.

Li Sheng was not content to be like ordinary people, working nine-to-five in bustling office buildings. He loves traveling and exploring.

He said, 'I don't know if reading ten thousand books has changed me, but traveling ten thousand miles has certainly changed me.'

In April this year, Li Sheng made a bold decision: sell the house! Go travel!

He made this decision, first, to free himself from worries, and second, to be able to wholeheartedly take his father on a tour around China. Li Sheng said that his father had worked hard and endured hardships all his life, toiling for the livelihood of the whole family.

The year he graduated from university, he took his parents to Xi'an. It was their first time on an airplane and high-speed train, and they had a great time.

From that time, Li Sheng knew that although his father didn't say it, he also loved traveling, exploring, and new ways of life. But forced by reality, age, and social etiquette, like most of the older generation, he had to compromise.

But Li Sheng felt that he could no longer wait. Next year his father would be 60. While he was still healthy, if not now, when?

Of course, persuading his father was a long and tedious process. Whether it was a 'surprise' or a shock, in the end, his father was moved by his son's sincerity.

In the evening, his father specially called back: 'I have rarely been by your side since you were little. This time, I'll go crazy with you too!'

Before the trip, his father was anxious, restless, excited, and curious. Although he complained about selling the house, he was very happy inside.

For their first long-distance self-driving trip, good equipment was naturally essential: a roof tent, side awning, soft padding for a good night's sleep.

Outdoor power supply and a car refrigerator were also very important, ensuring food and drink along the way.

The Indel B car refrigerator has a capacity large enough to hold two people's food for a week. Its anti-vibration performance is particularly good, so there's no need to worry about bumpy roads.

Liquefied gas tanks, water buckets, tables, utensils and other cooking tools; thermos bottles, car battery charging cables, tow ropes, car inflator pumps and other common tools are also indispensable. If going to the plateau, oxygen cylinders are crucial.

For this trip, Li Sheng plans to start from Chongqing, travel from the great southwest of the motherland to Tibet and Xinjiang, and then travel all over China.

Since April this year, Li Sheng has traveled through Chongqing, Zigong, Leshan, Chengdu, Dujiangyan, Aba, Xichang, Lijiang, Dali, Shangri-La and other places.

They saw: the incredible craftsmanship of ancient engineering, the astonishing speed of reconstruction in Wenchuan, the evening breeze by Lugu Lake, the enchanting scenery of Shangri-La, and other amazing sights.

It is worth mentioning that after 36 years away, Li Sheng also took his father back to the place where he served as a young soldier — Mao County, Sichuan. Although things had changed and people were gone, the place was empty.

Li Changhe sighed, 'I only found this original trace, a few trees, everything has changed.'

Although things had changed, his father couldn't help but tell Li Sheng little by little about this land, about the soldiers and comrades from those years, about the high spirits of his youth, about the ideals and future of that time. Unconsciously, he talked for an entire day.

For Li Sheng, traveling is not just about seeing the scenery along the way, but more importantly, meeting interesting people on the road.

At the campsite by the Qingyi River in Ya'an, Sichuan, with a river view right behind, every day there were traveling companions coming and going. Almost all of them were easygoing, and just after meeting, they could eat meat and drink wine together heartily.

The fellow travelers each showed off their signature cooking skills, taking fresh ingredients from their car refrigerators, and a sumptuous five-family feast began.

A big brother from Shandong chatted enthusiastically with Li Sheng and insisted on giving him a case of red wine. After declining several times, Li Sheng had to accept it.

The big brother said with a laugh, 'After all, once we're out here, we're all friends.'

Finally, I asked Li Sheng, when will the trip end?

He calmly said, 'This trip has no time limit, no end point, and no destination. It only has one dream of mine — to take my father all over China, until he can no longer walk.'

The farther he goes, the longer the companionship, the deeper his understanding of his father, realizing that his father in his youth was also full of hope.

Father's Day 2021, going out and traveling made us realize how big the world is. May life remain brilliant, and may the journey never end.