When the travel bug bites

Jin Xin says backpacking has done more to shape him than any other single activity.

He recalls a defining moment in 1998 when the then 26 year old found himself stranded after losing his money, credit card, ID card and overcoat on his first bicycle trip from Lanzhou, Gansu province to Lhasa, Tibet.

For two months, the Beijing bar owner cum T-shirt designer had to forage for food in garbage bins, sleep in public places, take on odd jobs, and hitchhike his way around. But he made life-long friends with complete strangers and proved to himself that he could survive even when penniless.