Hiking the Glenn Highway through Alaska. Published in Asphalt Pilgrims.
Paul Salopek
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
The sky was gray, and the sea was even grayer. I was feeling gray.
More than two years of walking through China was coming to end. There were oldies lounging on the new harbor boardwalk, and the music they sang was the peppy variety from their younger times, from another age, the faking-it-true-believer days in the twilight of the revolution—before the reforms, before the big opening—when almost everyone must have known the game was up. It was hard to believe anyone could be as innocent and sentimental as the songs suggested. But I guess some people were. Somehow, it cracked the heart.
With walking partners and friends Frank Geng and family, Chen Lu, Xie Zhisheng, Yolanda Wang, and Yu Huang.
A wraparound soundscape at this Milestone
This Milestone’s location on a map
Photos of the ground under Paul’s feet and the sky above at this Milestone
A brief question and answer with the first person Paul meets at this Milestone
Ge Ying
70, retired farmer.
Who are you?
I used to be a farmer. I grew corn and rice. I miss it. I live in the city now. My children live here. Too many buildings.
Where do you come from?
My farmland was near Shenyang. It was developed.
Where are you going?
I’m just going for a walk. It’s kind of boring just staying at home. I help babysit my grandkids. My granddaughter is 12. She’s always playing with her cell phone. She even studies on her phone, too. So I’m just hanging out on the streets. Out here at least there’s fresh air. No, you can’t take my portrait.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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