Hi, I’m Xudong Zhai. You can call me Archi, that's my nickname! I was born and raised in Tianjin—it’s China’s third-largest city, though it’s not a famous city for most foreigners.
I started learning programming in junior high. During my time at vocational school, I won first prize in a city-wide programming competition. That was a long time ago, even before the internet became popular; back then, I even ran my own FidoBBS station from home for two years. Later, I moved to Beijing and started working as a software developer.
Everything changed in 2001 after my first 300km cycling trip to Beidaihe, the closest beach to Beijing. I fell in love with bicycle travel and have been pushing my limits ever since, going farther and farther on two wheels.
In 2006, my journey took me to Tibet. On that high plateau, I witnessed the boundless possibilities of life. However, returning to Beijing meant falling back into the monotonous cycle of urban life. By 2012, I realized I couldn’t ignore the call of the road anymore. I decided to leave it all behind and cycle toward the world. Since then, the road has been my only home.
But I never truly left technology behind. I still keep a close eye on new tech and love building things just for fun, even though I don’t really make money from it anymore. For me, it’s no longer a career—it’s just a way to stay curious while I explore the world.
My Cycling Journey (2006–Present)
Jul 2006 ~ Dec 2006
Cycling Tibet (about 9,000km)
🚴 Beijing - Lhasa (Tibet) - Everest/border Nepal - Chengdu
Apr 2012 ~ Mar 2015
Cycling to Africa (about 30,000km)
🚴 China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand,
✈️🚴 India, Nepal, Tibet (China), Nepal
✈️🚴 Iran
✈️🚴 Jordan
🚢🚴 Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa
Jul 2015
Cycling Mongolia (about 1,000km)
🚴 China border ~ Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
Nov 2015 ~ Dec 2017
Traveling in North America and etc.. (about 15,000km)
🚴 Ottawa (Canada) ~ NYC (USA)
🚴 NYC USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
🚛🚗 Van/Car road trip in the USA
🚴 New Zealand
🎒Vanuatu
Oct 2018 ~ May 2021
Cycling to South America (about 15,000km)
🚴 Costa Rica, Panama,
🚤🚴 Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina
😷 Cafayate Salta (Argentina)
🚴 Ushuaia (Argentina)
2021-2022
Living in some Latin American countries
May 2023 ~ Dec 2023
Cycling in Alaska (about 5,000km)
🚴 Alasak (USA) ~ Yukon (Canada)
Jun 2024 – Present (Apr 2026)
Cycling to Türkiye (about 15,000km)
🚴 Beijing (China) – Tibet (China) – Nepal – Xinjiang (China)
🚴 Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
✈️🚴 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia
Final Thoughts
From the profound awe of first reaching the Tibetan Plateau in 2006 to the resilience forged while crossing the Caucasus today, the span of these twenty years is more than just a journey of tens of thousands of kilometers across a map. It has been a true metamorphosis—evolving from searching for life’s possibilities to living within them.