Lei Diansheng Author

Lei Diansheng was born in 1963 in the far-northeastern city of Harbin. He endured a traumatic childhood due to the Cultural Revolution, losing both his mother and father during his early teens. His ten-year hike across China was inspired by a 1987 set of postage stamps commemorating the 17th-century traveller Xu Xiake. During the course of his 81,000 kilometres journey, he took more than 40,000 photographs, kept a travel journal of over one million words and rose to fame throughout China. In 2004, he entered the Guinness World Records, and in 2008 he helped to carry the torch for the Beijing Olympics.