6 days, 310 km: Man walks from SZ to Shantou for Spring Festival

While most people return to their hometowns for the Spring Festival by car, by train, or by plane, a young man in Shenzhen opted for a less conventional way — walking 310 kilometers back to his hometown Shantou in six days. 

Zhao Zetong, a former basketball player, said this was his first time attempting such a challenge. On his Xiaohongshu account, he wrote that he was inspired by the movie "Forrest Gump," athlete David Goggins'  320-mile run, and climber Alex Honnold's recent successful soloing of Taipei 101.

A selfie of Zhao Zetong taken on Feb. 5, the second day of his six-day journey walking from Shenzhen to Shantou. Photos from Zhao Zetong's Xiaohongshu account 

In an interview with The Beiing News, Zhao said he set off from Shenzhen's Luohu District on Feb. 4, planning to complete 100 kilometers on the first day, and ended up covering 70 kilometers in 15 hours due to sore feet. 

During the six-day journey, he walked along major roads and highways whenever possible, dining and resting at restaurants and hotels he encountered along the way. At his peak, he logged nearly 90,000 steps in a single day. 

Unexpected situation were not uncommon. On one occasion, his navigation app directed him onto a mountain road, where he had to walk more than 10 kilometers without a phone signal. On another, he had planned to stop at 8 p.m., but ended up walking two more hours before finding a place to rest. 

Zhao said the encouragement he received from people he met along the way gave him great motivation. 

"For example, I met two young men on a motorcycle who said they had seen me in the last town I passed through and told me they thought what I did was impressive. That brought me a lot of joy. My body was tired, but I felt energized to keep going."

Zhao poses for a photo after arriving home at 4 p.m., Feb. 9. 

He arrived in Shantou's Chaonan District on the afternoon of Feb. 9.

"Covering such a distance on foot, that's really a cool thing," he said.