Last year Chris Rehage decided he’d had enough of sedentary life in China, so he decided to go back to Germany—by foot.

Hotel in Linfen, 250 km north of Xi’an

8:00 a.m. Wake up to alarm clock. Open eyes, extend arm from sleeping bag, touch radiator. Feel the cold, close eyes again.
9:06 Get up. Turn on computer and write up yesterday's post.
10:04 Write "25, 7" on the back of my left hand. If I walk 25.7 kilometers today, then that’ll be 1,000 since I left Beijing.
10:10 Upload post, put on clothes, brush teeth.
10:24 Check comments on post. Shut down computer. Put on gaiters and the rest of my gear.
10:41 Leave room and stop by reception desk.
10:48 Step into the snow. Set up the GPS, ready to leave the "most polluted city in all China,” Linfen.

The Road

10:53 Notice wrong filter on wide angle lens. Curse.
11:17 Take pee break, change filter.
12:11 p.m. Get stopped by a dude in a car, accept invitation for lunch nearby.

Restaurant

12:15 Meet up with the dude in restaurant. His name is Liu Kui. Have a merry lunch with him and a bunch of new friends.
2:02 Take group photographs, shake hands. Leave restaurant, get back on the highway.

The Road

2:25 Get sprayed by a passing coal truck. Briefly examine water damage. Wave arms and fists, scream and curse and rage. I Get stopped by Liu Kui and his friends again. Receive best wishes and printed group pictures. Smile.
3:47 Buy ice tea in a small shop next to the road. Sit down and chat with a woman named Hao Ting and her mother.
4:50 Check the time. Hurriedly say my good-byes and rush out the door.
4:53 Look at some dudes trying to get their car out from a roadside ditch.
6:12 Arrive at my destination by nightfall: Xiangfen.

Xiangfen

6:17 Ask kid for directions to a hotel.
6:20 Ask lady for directions to a hotel.
6:28 Arrive at the best hotel in town. Frown at their rates: RMB130.
6:35 Go to second best hotel in town. RMB126. Frown again.
6:43 Negotiate the price down to RMB120. Fake smile.
6:46 Realize that this is the end of all negotiations. Frown.
6:57 Go to a random small hotel next to the street. See the price: RMB30. Smile. See the cold radiator. Frown.
7:03 Decide to settle down in the cold hotel because the owner seems like a nice guy.
7:08 Move into room, drop backpack and stick, sit down on bed. Lean back and look at ceiling.
7:20 Get up. Ask owner for a decent restaurant. Cross the street with high hopes for good food.

Restaurant

7:27 Order shaoguo, some kind of boiling pot with all kinds of things in it.
7:30 Purchase some fruit juice next door.
7:34 Go back to restaurant. Wash hands. Sit down. Peel garlic.
7:43 Have a good shaoguo with huajuan, a kind of Chinese bread.
8:12 Leave restaurant, go to supermarket for cookies and yogurt.

Hotel

8:20 Arrive back at the room. Take off gaiters, recharge batteries, turn on computer, check emails.
8:41 Start going through today's pictures. Delete some, keep some. Match up with the GPS data.
9:17 Feel unrest in the bowels. Prepare tissue and flashlight.
9:20 Follow hotel owner through the backyard to a loo that can only be described as evil.
9:29 Great success! Evacuate freezing body from evil loo and navigate back to room.
9:35 Update map on homepage, write up today's post.
10:50 Have cookies and soak feet in hot water bowl. Look at my breath evaporating into little white puffs in the cold air.
11:02 Look at my left hand: the "25, 7" is still readable. I’m 1.7 km short of the full 1,000 km today.
11:05 Take off a few clothes. Decide to leave on sweater and beanie (because of the cold). Climb into my sleeping bag.
11:10 Chat with some friends, every now and then going back to the post and fixing some stuff here and there.
12:29 a.m. Turn off computer. Touch radiator again. Feel the cold. Turn off the light. Sleep.

The Verdict

So, the million kuai question: why does a talented photographer give up life at the Beijing Film Academy and decide to walk 15,000 kilometers to Germany? According to Chris: “I am walking because, at some point, I want to get tired and weary, make myself learn appreciation for my home, so at some point I can settle down and have a nice little family. It's feeding the wolf, until it doesn't know that certain hunger anymore. That ‘I-have-to-go-to-the-weirdest-place-possible’ hunger. I'm really just a dude walking around beautiful landscapes getting to meet beautiful people. And I'm loving it.” Follow his progress at www.thelongestway.com.