Cheng arrives at Rome on October 15, 2025. Photo: Screenshot from Cheng's social media account
A man from Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, recently arrived in Rome, Italy, after a two-year journey, during which he hiked 8,000 kilometers across 12 countries while carrying 35 kilogram of luggage, the Yangcheng Evening News reported.
The man, Cheng Long, was inspired by the television series depicting Han Dynasty envoy Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, which sparked his idea of walking to Rome.
He said that since the ancient Silk Road starts in Xi'an and ends in Rome—with Rome being a 3,000-year-old cultural ancient capital and Xi'an also an ancient historical and cultural capital in the East—he decided to connect these two cities and traverse more than a dozen countries between them on foot.
Cheng began his journey in August 2023 and reached Hami, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, by December, the report said. Later, due to health reasons, he returned home to recuperate and resumed his journey at the end of February 2024. Over the past year, he completed his trek through Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, according to the report.
In March this year, he began hiking from Azerbaijan, trekked over 400 kilometers to Georgia, and after about 550 kilometers, crossed into Turkey.
Cheng's European trek began in Athens, Greece. He walked from Athens to the Greek port city of Patras, and took a ferry to the Italian port city of Bari. From Bari to Rome, he walked another approximately 550 kilometers.
Along the way, Cheng said he suffered heatstroke in the desert, nearly encountered a car accident, and even contracted COVID-19. However, he also experienced great kindness from strangers.
He recalled that when he had nowhere to stay in Kazakhstan, a Chinese expatriate offered him accommodation, and after learning that he was walking the Silk Road from China, a foreign police officer asked to take photos with him, the report said.
After two years, he finally reached his destination, Rome, on October 15. This two-year journey cost him about 200,000 yuan, during which he wore out five luggage carts and 19 pairs of shoes. Yet he believes "the expense was worthwhile, as a dream fulfilled in two years can be cherished for a lifetime."
He added that after arriving in Rome, he thought of many eloquent words to describe the moment, but in the end, he couldn't utter any of them. Instead, he crouched by the Colosseum and wept for two hours.
He said that he is promoting the Silk Road in his own way. "Whether it's the Turks or Greeks I have met, I will feel content as long as I think that they will mention to their friends having met a Chinese person who hiked here to travel the Silk Road."
Global Times
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