Journeys

行万里路 · The long road since 2010

Honglin Li’s travel log since 2010: the places he has lived and travelled in China, the United States and beyond, on a map with a time line.
  • 16years on the road
  • 17countries and regions
  • 39U.S. states and DC
  • 25/34Chinese provinces and regions
  • 212,000km of mapped routes, roughly

Almanac

Longest road trip
12,162 kmAround China in 60 days, Jul–Sep 2013
Highest point reached
5,276 mMount Siguniang, second peak, Oct 2017
Most countries in one year
52022: the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and the United States
Most new places in one year
232013
New places, year by year
2010: 4 new places420102011: 1 new place12012: 3 new places32013: 23 new places232014: 6 new places620142015: 4 new places42016: 5 new places52017: 5 new places52018: 4 new places420182019: 7 new places72020: 2 new places22021: 6 new places62022: 7 new places720222023: 7 new places72024: 9 new places92025: 11 new places112026: 3 new places32026
Distance by way of travel, from the mapped routes
  • By plane ~161,000 km
  • By car ~22,000 km
  • By train ~13,000 km
  • By bus ~260 km
  • Way not recorded ~16,000 km
  • By bicycle ~40 km
  • On foot about 24 km and 20+ km in long day hikes, plus the summits

Summits

The Five Great Mountains, each climbed and descended on foot, a first snow peak, and two near home, one of them the shortest of them all.

  1. 2,016 m Mount Heng (North) Tianfeng Peak · May 2012 North of the five · the first
  2. 2,155 m Mount Hua South Peak · Jul–Sep 2013 West of the five
  3. 1,300 m Mount Heng (South) Zhurong Peak · Jul–Sep 2013 South of the five
  4. 1,492 m Mount Song Junji Peak · Jul–Sep 2013 Centre of the five
  5. 1,533 m Mount Tai Jade Emperor Peak · Jul–Sep 2013 East of the five · the last
  6. 5,276 m Mount Siguniang second peak · Oct 2017 First snow peak
  7. 0.6 m tall Jingshan, Shouguang 2019 Often called the world's shortest mountain
  8. 421 m Mount Yunmen, Qingzhou Feb 2024 On the Spring Festival trip home

Lit up

Every province and state I have set foot in, with the year of the first visit. Road trips count the ones they crossed.

25 of China's 34 provincial-level divisions
39 of the 50 U.S. states, and DC

Chapters

One page for each place I have lived: what the chapter was, its footprints and its stamps.

  1. Chapter 1 · Sep 2010 – Jul 2014

    Baotou

    Inner Mongolia, China

    Four years at university, farther from home than I had ever been: the northern edge of the country, and the first journeys of my own.

    • 32 new places
    • 13,800 km, roughly
    • 4 firsts
    • First time away from homeBaotou · Sep 2010
    • First trip of my ownYinchuan · May 2011
    • First of the Five Great MountainsMount Heng · 2,016 m · May 2012
    • First desertKubuqi Desert · Sep 2012
    • All Five Great MountainsJul–Sep 2013
    • GraduatedJul 2014
    • Mount Hua2,155 m · Jul–Sep 2013
    • Mount Heng (South)1,300 m · Jul–Sep 2013
    • Mount Song1,492 m · Jul–Sep 2013
    • Mount Tai1,533 m · Jul–Sep 2013

  2. Chapter 2 · Jul 2014 – Sep 2016

    Shanghai and Bali

    China and Indonesia

    A first job in Shanghai, thirteen months on Bali at a power plant under construction, and an island that taught me to dive, to fly and to surf; then back in Shanghai, preparing for the next posting abroad.

    • 9 new places
    • 11,400 km, roughly
    • 5 firsts
    • First jobShanghai · Jul 2014
    • First country abroadBali · Sep 2014
    • Learned to diveBali · 2015
    • First paragliding flightBali · 2015
    • First surfBali · 2015
    • Around BaliAug–Oct 2015
    • Mount HuangNov 2015

  3. Chapter 3 · Sep 2016 – Apr 2019

    Lagos

    Nigeria

    Two and a half years based in Lagos, working in West Africa; the way home ran through the Gulf and Istanbul.

    • 15 new places
    • 88,600 km, roughly
    • 1 first
    • AmsterdamSep 2016
    • Niger, Ghana, Togo2016–2019
    • ParisJan 2017
    • DohaFeb–Mar 2017
    • First snow peakMount Siguniang · 5,276 m · Oct 2017
    • Abu Dhabi, DubaiJul 2018
    • IstanbulDec 2018
    • M.E. in Computer EngineeringDec 2018
    • Leaving NigeriaApr 2019
    • Jingshan, Shouguang0.6 m tall · 2019

  4. Chapter 4 · Aug 2019 – Jul 2021

    San Marcos

    Texas, United States

    The first American home, a university town in central Texas, and a second master's at Texas State University, ending with six months in Washington, DC.

    • 8 new places
    • 17,200 km, roughly
    • 2 firsts
    • Left for the U.S.Aug 2019
    • First landing in the U.S.San Francisco · Aug 2019
    • San MarcosAug 2019
    • First trip to another stateMadison, Twin Cities · Dec 2019
    • Washington, DC2021
    • M.S. defence16 July 2021

  5. Chapter 5 · Jul 2021 – Aug 2024

    Dallas

    Texas, United States

    The Ph.D. years at The University of Texas at Dallas, when the map of the United States began to fill in: long drives, first in company and then alone.

    • 21 new places
    • 63,100 km, roughly
    • 5 firsts
    • First long road tripWest Texas loop · Nov 2021
    • EuropeMay–Jun 2022
    • First long hikeHot Springs · about 24 km on foot · May 2023
    • First solo road tripRockies loop · Oct 2023
    • First solo campingCaddo Grasslands · Nov 2023
    • First Spring Festival home from the U.S.Shouguang · Winter 2023–24
    • Mount Yunmen, Qingzhou421 m · Feb 2024

  6. Chapter 6 · Aug 2024 – Jan 2025

    Boston

    Massachusetts, United States

    A half-year internship in Boston, reached by car across the South, and autumn in New England from Walden Pond to the coast of Maine.

    • 7 new places
    • 3,800 km, roughly
    • 3 firsts
    • First time in New YorkDallas to Boston · Aug 2024
    • First sight of the MississippiDallas to Boston · Aug 2024
    • Lowell Lake, VermontEarly Oct 2024
    • First auroraBoston · Oct 2024

  7. Chapter 7 · Jan 2025 – Dec 2025

    Idaho Falls

    Idaho, United States

    An internship at Idaho National Laboratory, reached by car across the whole country; Yellowstone nearby, the Ph.D. defended, the long drive south, and commencement in Dallas.

    • 11 new places
    • 7,100 km, roughly
    • 1 first
    • Boston to Idaho FallsJan 2025
    • First time in YellowstoneYellowstone · May 2025
    • Yellowstone, Grand TetonJul 2025
    • Ph.D. defence10 September 2025
    • Idaho to TexasDec 2025
    • Hike, 20+ kmArches · Dec 2025
    • Commencement, Ph.D.12 December 2025

  8. Chapter 8 · Apr 2026 – now

    Manhattan

    Kansas, United States

    In spring 2026 an offer from Kansas State University, and a postdoc at the edge of the Flint Hills. The log stays open.

    • 3 new places
    • 7,200 km, roughly
    • Postdoc beginsApr 2026
    • Kansas to BostonAug 2026
    • Houghton, MichiganMid-Oct 2026

Sources

Map data, loaded by the page: China, with its provinces, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and the South China Sea inset, from the China standard map as published with Apache ECharts 4.9.0 (Apache-2.0); other countries from Natural Earth (public domain) through world-atlas 2.0.2; U.S. states from the U.S. Census Bureau through us-atlas 3.0.1. Summit heights: China's 2007 national survey of famous mountains (Mount Tai, Mount Song), Wikipedia and public scenic-area pages.