China has many famed explorers. There was Zhang Qian, traveled into Central Asia, (open) corridors of trade that became the Silk Road. Zheng He was a great mariner in the 15th century. Yet these voyages (undertake) under the direction of governments Xu Xiake was different.
Born in 1587, Xu Xiake grew up in a rich family. Yet he rejected the （comfort) life to travel the lost world of imperial China. As one of the greatest land explorers, Xu Xiake is said (travel) thousands of miles of Chinese mountains and rivers on foot in his lifetime. The written work of Xu Xiake's travel records and diaries contains some 404, 000 Chinese characters, enormous work for a single author of his time. It mixes (detail) of geography, botany and local history with the ratings of the Ming Dynasty lodgings (住宿).
"On the surface, Xu's travel can neither be classified as great affairs of state great undertakings that changed the course of history." writes the cultural historian Zheng Peikai. "Xu traveled to satisfy his own (curious) — he traveled for the sake of traveling."
Xu Xiake traveled across China for 34 years. Perhaps his (great) journey was his last. At age 50, he traveled to the tropical frontiers of Yunnan. Hundreds of years later, we follow. Naturally, he is the father of Chinese backpacking.
