A 30-year-old South Korean who is on an 80-day tractor ride trip across China arrived in Wuhan, Hubei Province on Tuesday, the 43rd stop of his journey meant to promote the importance of agriculture.

Kang Kitae arrived in the "city bigger than he imagined," breaking briefly along Dongfeng Avenue near the Beijing-Zhuhai Highway, after kicking off his tour on May 21 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.

"My father is a farmer planting rice at my hometown, Hadong county, South Gyeongsang Province of South Korea. I grew up seeing the decline of agriculture; few people work in the fields nowadays. And I'm sad to see food and vegetables wasted in the cities," he said.

To advocate his cause, Kang Kitae has planned to drive his tractor some 6,700 kilometers in less than three months before concluding in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

With a built-in air-conditioner, Kang's tractor featuring two big wheels with a diameter of 1.5 meters is valued at 160,000 yuan ($26,080). Another three people are driving alongside Kang in an SUV to provide maintenance support during the journey, but already Kang has had to use his tractor to pull out the mud-trapped SUV.

Because tractors are not allowed to run on highways and enter urban areas in China, Kang's team has been following him on national, provincial and village roads.

Wuhan Evening News