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Introduction:
Beijing to Lhasa, 5400 km by bicycle and horseback on the trail of Evariste Huc (1813-1860)
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On February 21, 2006, at the Tien Amen Square in front of the Forbidden City, Stéphanie Huc and Jean Guillemot leave Beijing on the trail of Evariste Huc to join the mythical city of Lhasa, by bicycle and on horseback. |
At the origin of this adventure there are, on the one hand the story of Evariste Huc “Memories of a Voyage in Tartary and Thibet” which Stéphanie Huc was brought up on, and, on the other hand, the coincidence of the same family name. The great-great-grandfather of Stéphanie grew up in the same region as Evariste Huc, the Tarn-et-Garonne. The writings of the Huc father shaped the vocation of traveller Stéphanie Huc and her will to carry out her childhood dream, namely, to leave on the trail of her namesake.
The voyage attempted by Stéphanie Huc and Jean Guillemot had never been accomplished since the journey of Evariste Huc. From February to August 2006, they followed as best they could, the route taken by Evariste Huc. This voyage lasted five months during which, they crossed still poorly known or unexplored regions of China, such as Inner Mongolia, the deserts of Ordos, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai and the wild landscape of the Tibetan Plateau before entering Lhasa “the mythical one”.
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It is more than 4500 kilometers of frozen asphalt or dusty tracks that they covered by bicycle and 900 kilometers of steppes and marshes on horseback. This voyage proceeded under the extreme climatic conditions of winter. They fought against the snowstorms and sandstorms, the constant winds and low temperatures of minus 25°C, not to mention the 4700 meters of average altitude of the Tibetan Plateau.
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The hospitality and the generosity of the people they met, made it possible to face these rough conditions and to endure until the end of their journey. |
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Surprising China, land of contrasts, at the same time so close and so far away from the descriptions of Evariste Huc, 160 years ago. Northern China is composed of an extraordinary mosaic of different ethnic groups: Mongols with their glorious cultural past, followed by the Hui descendants of the Moslem merchants who arrived by the old Silk route, to the Tibetans with a piercing gaze.
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Route followed on Jully 2006
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