Motorcycle diary
- Source: Global Times
- [00:41 February 20 2010]
- Comments
Not really the Ritz on the road with tents. Center: Every journey has its perils - Liam Bates after a crash. Photos: Courtesy of Tenthousandmiles team
By Matthew Jukes
A wise man once said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." In these dark days of financial crisis, young people all over the world have become about as valuable as the average shopping trolley and equally disillusioned.
To change this, a group of four youngsters of different nationalities formed a plan to travel by motorbike from the roof of the world to the mouth of the sea, checking in on the hopes and dreams of others along the way.
Heading up this crowd was Liam Bates, a then 20-year-old Swiss of US and UK parentage who has dedicated the last few years to the pursuit of learning Chinese, martial arts, and the middle kingdom. First making a short trip to the country in 2001, Bates returned in 2004 at the tender age of 16 to study wushu (a style of Kung Fu) at Beijing Capital Institute of Physical Education.
This started a whirlwind romance that is still not over. "I love China," says Bates. "Perhaps it's simply the complete difference in culture from the West. As far back as you go in Chinese history, it has always been very different, and there are some basic differences in the way we think about things. I find this fascinating."
After repeated trips and majoring in Chinese at university in Canada, Bates is now fluent in the language, but is aware that this is a subjective notion. "Fluency isn't really a black or white thing, like most things in life it's a gray gradient. I have no trouble communicating though, and I major in Chinese at university, so we spend quite a bit of time reading 20th century literature as well as classical Chinese from around 2000 years ago," he says.
In 2007, having already biked (using pedal power) the wilds of Yunnan, he literally thumbed his way into Tibet and liked it so much that he's been back every year since. A year later, while rioting and media confusion abounded, a TV producer who Bates was helping out suggested that he make a movie about what young people living in the region and in Eastern China were actually thinking.
Insane project
On May 4, 2009 the four bikers set off from Lhasa, Patrick from Brazil handling their cameras, Wen Xiang representing Zhejiang Province and Tibetan Gesang Duojie. "This trip and this film started from a tiny little idea and turned into something that would go on to change all of our lives," says Bates. "Many of our friends thought we were absolutely insane to do this, it was our first major film project and none of us knew a thing about riding motorcycles."
Still, one step up from movie star Ewan Mcgregor and his Long Way Round, the crew took to the road, heading for Shanghai. "Riding from Tibet was also rather symbolic, from somewhere 'spiritual' on top of the world down into Shanghai, where money is more important than anything else. We wanted to see the progressive change. Is Tibet really a spiritual world still? Was it ever?" says Bates.
Keeping 50 spare kuai to fill up their bikes every day and living off two minute noodles and, on occasions, restaurant leftovers; "that's when we were... really broke!" comments Bates, their path was filled with nomads, gangsters, rich businessmen and migrant workers, all of whom added to the story of the young people they were talking to along the way.
The significance of this was not lost on the young traveler. "One of the things we realized was that people all over the world, but especially in China, often... will not pursue their dreams, do not have dreams any longer or simply are too afraid to take the first step. We wanted to capture this, show viewers that really... there are too many people in China that because of education, tradition, society and family lose their dreams. But if you believe, you will get there in the end."
