As early as the 1990s, li Wenjie has entered the tourism exhibition industry, and Li Wenjie has a wealth of travel experience. But she didn't expect that the longest time she traveled around the world was during the global epidemic of the new crown epidemic.
In July last year, Qiandao Lake suffered a flood, Li Wenjie's Huashuji homestay near Qiandao Lake was slightly damaged and needed to be repaired, coupled with the impact of the epidemic on the source of customers, she decided to give herself a period of time to prepare for a two-month trip. As a result, due to various reasons such as the epidemic, from August last year to November this year, her journey lasted for a year and three months, covering 50 countries and regions in Africa, Europe and Asia.
This is destined to be a trip of a lifetime. Under the epidemic, she has had many different travel experiences.
Set off on a toss-up journey
"At 7:15 a.m. on July 8, the water level of the Xin'anjiang Reservoir reached 108.43 meters. At 9:00 a.m. on the same day, the Xin'an River Dam was fully opened for the first time in 61 years since the construction of the dam." Last July, such a brief piece of news did not attract much attention. But for the hotels and homestays around Qiandao Lake within the Xin'anjiang Reservoir, this is a real difficulty.
Originally, the summer vacation every year was the peak season for tourism in Qiandao Lake. However, the floods caused by the long rains during the rainy season last year flooded some accommodation facilities in the central lake area of Qiandao Lake. Even if Li Wenjie's homestay is located in a higher mountainous area, it is inevitable that it will be damaged. Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, the local passenger flow has dropped sharply.
Some days of life always need some blank space. Li Wenjie decided to go out for a period of rest as in previous years, one is to go out to investigate the body, mind and soul healing courses that she is interested in, and make some plans for the future of the homestay; on the other hand, she also gives herself a chance to recharge and improve.
Egyptian pyramids
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is circulating globally. From March to August, travel around the world was almost blocked.
Until August last year, Li Wenjie found that Serbia became the first country to open to overseas tourists. However, at that time, there were very few outbound flights, and after inquiring that Turkish Airlines had flights to Serbia, Li Wenjie first flew from Hangzhou to Guangzhou, and then departed from Guangzhou to transit through Istanbul, Turkey, before finally arriving in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
Originally planned to stop in Serbia for a short time, then enter the European Union countries, and then focus on the destination of the trip, Egypt, and then return home. But when she really went abroad, Li Wenjie found that the situation was not the same as expected.
"At that time, the EU countries were not open to travelers, and they could not enter at all." Li Wenjie had to retreat to the second place, first in Albania, North Macedonia and other tourists for a period of time, and then into the relatively loose control of Africa. After nearly 2 months of tossing and turning, she finally entered Egypt in October last year. By the time she concluded her trip in November, she had traveled to 50 countries and regions in Asia, Africa and Europe.
With fewer people moving, will it be cheaper to travel around the world under the pandemic? Li Wenjie said that this is not the case. When Egypt first opened to tourists, luxury hotels on the Red Sea were indeed "cabbage prices", and the hotel that was originally about 2,000 yuan a night could be stayed for 500 yuan. But because many international airline flights are greatly reduced, tickets are relatively tight, so the final cost is not less than usual.
The world under the pandemic
However, the world under the epidemic is a little different from the past.
At airports around the world, Li Wenjie found that the most well-protected people were usually Chinese. Masks, gloves, goggles, protective clothing are readily available, and if you see such a heavily armed passenger at the airport, most of them are Chinese. During the two months she spent in Egypt, she also saw many Chinese working as local laborers trying to return to China. Even if the ticket is tight, even if you have to make 4-5 stops on the way, you must go home.
In the spring of 2021, EU countries gradually have the conditions to lift travel restrictions, and Li Wenjie finally entered the EU area. In Romania, she was vaccinated and got a vaccination certificate, and finally she could travel unimpeded in the EU. Before that, going to restaurants, staying in hotels, and going to museums could be blocked.
From her personal experience, people in European countries do not have exactly the same attitude towards the epidemic and whether to wear masks, and the regulations of various countries are also different. In some countries with less stringent protective measures, cases will rise faster.
For example, the island nation of Malta has a very strict control of the epidemic, and almost everyone wears a mask. Once, Li Wenjie was thirsty when she walked, and she had just taken off her mask to drink water, and soon the police came forward to ask her why she did not wear a mask; in Germany and Poland, there were people who wore masks and people who did not wear masks, it seemed that it all depended on personal choice; in Greece, the curfew imposed after midnight was not strictly enforced, and people who drank could still be seen in bars...
Later, Li Wenjie came to the United Arab Emirates and found that the control of the epidemic here was unprecedentedly strict: passengers sitting in the passenger seat of the car who did not wear masks would be directly fined $2,000.
Scenery of Zanzibar Island, Tanzania
Even in Africa, the attitudes of different countries to the epidemic at the same time are very different. After finishing her trip to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other places, Li Wenjie arrived in Rwanda in East Africa, intending to see the world-famous endangered species - mountain gorillas. Unexpectedly, Rwanda's travel control is even stricter than that of the United Arab Emirates.
"Provinces also need permits between provinces, and you need to take the driver to the local police station to handle it, and it will be issued after the review is completed." Under such strict travel restrictions, Li Wenjie only stayed in Rwanda for 3 days before ending the trip early and moving to Tanzania, which borders it.
Li Wenjie entered Tanzania in January this year, and the epidemic is still spreading around the world. But walking on the land of Tanzania, it seems that the existence of the epidemic is completely unaware. In the famous local seaside resort of Zanzibar, many Europeans and Americans who have nowhere to go flock to the seaside, and people are singing and dancing to welcome the arrival of the new year.
In such an environment, Li Wenjie did not make any special protection. "In fact, people who are still walking outside at this time basically don't mind the existence of the epidemic." Some people think that even if they are infected, they can recover quickly, like a cold. ”
However, gentlemen do not stand under the dangerous wall. Li Wenjie also pays attention to the report of case numbers on the WHO website every day, and for those countries that are experiencing large-scale outbreaks, she will first avoid when choosing a destination. For a while, she wanted to go for a walk in the Netherlands, and she had already come to belgium, which is close to it. But as soon as she checked the data, the daily added value of new crown cases in the Netherlands was as high as 7000 to 8000 people, and she temporarily dispelled her thoughts.
During the epidemic period, li Wenjie traveled around the world, in order to successfully fly, Li Wenjie also had to do nucleic acid testing many times. After more than a year of walking, she found that she had nucleic acid test orders from more than 20 countries and regions. Every time the test report came out, she would report to her family in the WeChat group: "The 'report card' came out, and it was excellent (negative)!" ”
Originally, her family had some concerns about her traveling during the epidemic. After a long time, seeing that she coped with it freely, the family slowly let go of the hanging heart.
See the world bigger
During the trip, Li Wenjie also met many interesting people from all over the world. There are scholars, volunteers, travel bloggers, mountaineering and diving enthusiasts, some of whom have traveled to more than 100 countries and regions around the world.
In Africa, she met a German psychologist who was working locally to investigate people's psychological depression under the epidemic, and interviewed both doctors and ordinary community residents;
In the relatively primitive tribes, volunteers who do ethnic minority research stay for more than half a year; several groups of bloggers and video UP masters from China, because they can't return to China for the time being, simply continue to write and shoot while touring in the local area...
She also met robbers. In Tunisia, Li Wenjie's mobile phone was suddenly snatched away by oncoming people and disappeared in an instant. Most of the locals speak French, but through body language, they can also tell roughly what is going on. A girl she didn't know came over and volunteered to accompany her to the police station to help report the crime, followed by a group of enthusiastic locals to help.
The police said that the place where the case occurred was not under their control, and Li Wenjie and his party had to change a police station and report the case again. Although there was little hope, it was surprising that an hour later, her snatched mobile phone was completely returned to Zhao, and the necklace that was lost at that time was also found! Locals told Li Wenjie that the loss of items in Tunisia is definitely a small probability event, and she is lucky.
Li Wenjie during the trip and local children took a group photo
Along the way, I met hospitable people from all over the world, and this long journey made Li Wenjie gain a lot. On the famous "pilgrimage" road that connects Spain, Portugal and France, she saw many people walking on foot here; in Places such as Egypt and Armenia, she visited the ancient civilizations of the pyramids of Egypt, learned about the legend of Noah's Ark, and gained a deeper understanding of life itself.
"My earlier life experience has been smooth, thinking that I can achieve anything with hard work. But after such a journey, I no longer believe so much in the 'man will triumph over heaven', and feel that some things are not all up to us. Li Wenjie said that the journey of more than a year has allowed her to see a broader world, a more diversified attitude and way of life, and has also made her thinking and vision more broad, not just limited to a relatively narrow small world, which is a great improvement for herself.
For the homestay she has been running for 5 years, Li Wenjie also has more ideas. Before the epidemic, her homestay had just received a batch of courses focusing on body, mind and soul healing, and a group of international guests were supposed to come to a halt in 2020, but everything came to an abrupt end due to the epidemic.
After returning from the trip, Li Wenjie decided that in the future, her homestay will integrate more oriental traditional cultures such as tai chi, floral art, tea art and international courses, so that more international tourists can appreciate the beauty of traditional Chinese culture. For the Qiandao Lake area where the homestay is located, she also hopes to integrate more with the local community, so that more villagers can learn tai chi, floral art, tea art, etc. through training, and they will drive international guests to understand and like Chinese traditional culture.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Li Baohua Text Editor: Li Baohua
Source: Author: Li Baohua