Photo shoot at the Bund before we set off on our epic journey. First stop on our trip will be Wuhan, after we dive into the mountains at Chengdu, Chongqing and then on to the Tibetan Plateau. It’s going to be awesome!
Day 0 – Shanghai!
Modern day explorers: combatting the ancient Silk Road in the 21st century
The Silk Road. More magical than that it doesn’t get. Seven hundred years ago Marco Polo took curiosities from Europe to China and vice versa. We believe that we will take modern day curiosities from China with us (car, smartphones, laptops, clothing, and sunglasses) bridging East and West by blogging, sharing, observing, listening and looking around us along this ancient trading route.
Car sticker design in progress
I never knew how much fun it is to design car stickers. Until I started designing our Brand New China car. It’s a work in progress and I’m not happy with it yet, but hereby a sneak preview. I can’t wait for the car to be delivered on July 19th, only 2 weeks left!
We won’t get sick. But I might collapse.
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Measles, Rubella, Cholera, Yellow Fever, Typhoid.. We’ve collected them all. Or at least, the vaccinations against them. So we won’t get sick. Probably.
We went to the vaccination bureau. Located next to the vehicle management station where Maren got his Chinese driving license. You could call that road the “Prepare-for-extreme-road-trips-to-places-where-vaccinations-are-needed Road”. Or maybe it’s just coincidence.
While I believe the chances of getting a coconut on my head on the steppes of Kazakhstan are bigger than getting typhoid. You never know. There might be an angry Kazakh with a coconut. Or you might get typhoid. As I said, you never know.
Maren (finally) got his Chinese driving license!
Ididn’t have my Chinese driving license yet. Yes, I have a Dutch driving license and yes, I have done road trips in Norway, Spain, Japan and many countries in between and yes, you could even say I’m an excellent driver but that is no guarantee for passing the Chinese Driver Theory Exam. This is the most important exam for any foreigner that already has a (western) driver license and wants to obtain a Chinese driver license to be able to legally drive on the Chinese roads.
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Huawei joins Brand New China: new sponsor!
The email couldn’t be simpler: “Hereby the contract with the signature of our CEO. Can you sign as well?” From: Huawei Communications & Public Affairs. Or in other words, we’ve got a new sponsor: Huawei!
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Offroad Jianzi kicking around China! #trialtrip #video
This game might not be as popular as watching the World Cup, but in China, it’s a folk sport: Jianzi kicking. Also known as ‘hacky sack’, ‘featherball’, ‘shuttlecock’, ‘footbag’, ‘Chinese JJJ’ or ‘kinja’. Either way, just walk into any park in China and you’ll see people playing it. Usually kicking the shuttle from one person to the next while standing in a circle. While the game originated in the 5th century BC in China, a guy called Jan Weber is currently the World Footbag Champion. Which might make you think the Dutch are world champion in a Chinese folk sport, but Jan is from Czechoslovakia. Too bad.
We decided to go offroad and kick the Jianzi around China. Or specifically, around the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Inner-Mongolia in our #trialtrip. Enjoy the video!
In the spotlight: Maren and Rogier on Chinese television!
TVstudios have something magical. But also something disturbing. Because what you say on camera is suddenly the truth. Because you said it! There’s no grey area, it’s black or white. Well, actually it is colour TV but that’s beside the point. Read More
‘Will you only eat Chinese food along the way?’ – read about our first public event
After months of discussing, happy moments and frustration, time has really come to go ‘live’. After launching the website, facebook page, weibo account and updating our LinkedIn profiles it was time to face a real audience. Read More
Bad Romance or Love at first Sight? Watch as we meet our car for the first time!
After a couple of casual calls we decided to meet. It was a sunny afternoon at a BYD showroom in a new neighbourhood on the outskirts of Shanghai. We where dressed up. Anxious to meet her for the first time. We had only seen her on the photos. But this was our first real life encounter with our BYD F5.