11,000km in 27 days: Singaporean man drives all the way to China and back

Singapore to China and back.

It may not sound like a particularly impressive journey until you find out Able Wang's vehicle of choice.

He took on this 11,000km drive in a BMW hatchback.

For context, a cross-island trip from Tuas to Changi is roughly around 45km.

On Tuesday (Oct 31), Able took to Facebook group MY SG Road Trip - Your Malaysia Road Trip Guide to share this impressive feat.

The entire trip took a total of 27 days, and he got to experience a multitude of seasons during this month of travel, from a freezing zero degrees Celsius to a scorching 35 degrees Celsius.

In the post, Able described how he "drove through thunderstorms and snowflakes, horrible broken roads to absolutely splendid roads". 

Starting from Singapore, he travelled up the Malay Peninsula, passing by Malaysia and Thailand.

The Singaporean entered China from Yunnan province and drove through beautiful valleys enroute to Yading, Sichuan, before making his way back to Singapore.

While it may seem like an impossible task, Able wanted to make a point that one can drive from Singapore all the way to China.

Unless you're an experienced overseas driver or you understand China's geography well, it is probably best to contact a tour agent to plan this road trip for you.

All you have to do is to find yourself some travel mates and prepare your driving licences, passports, log cards and road taxes for your tour agent.

As he had prior experience driving in Thailand, Able planned his own itinerary for Singapore to Chiang Khong.

He wrote: "I joined a Thai adventure group for the China section. I met them in Chiang Khong and travelled with them from Laos to China and back to Chiang Khong."

While the language barrier with a local convoy leader can get tricky, there is value in travelling with one.

Able reminded readers that vehicles in Singapore drive on the left side of the road so navigating in China, where vehicles drive on the ride side instead, can be challenging for inexperienced drivers.

The 27 days of driving wasn't all smooth sailing and Able admitted to being frustrated at times.

However, on a whole, he classified it as a joyful experience and urged others to give it a shot while they are still young and healthy.

"My motivation for posting here is to encourage more people to drive to [and] in China, and it is reasonably affordable for the destinations, distance and time," Able said.

He was also keen to dispel rumours that such a long trip could only be done with an SUV.

His BMW hatchback did the job just fine.

As for tips on driving in China, Able warned potential travellers that Google Maps is "useless" in the country as it does not show new roads or establishments.

An alternative app to consider would be Baidu Map.

ALSO READ: The ultimate road trip: Couple takes on 25,000km drive from London to Singapore, conquering 23 countries

amierul@asiaone.com

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