Stupid idea, biking across China in 1892-1893... without roads mostly

After close to eight months of biking across China from Shanghai to the Burmese border in 1892/3 (during which time he was stoned, beaten, robbed, and forced to walk most of the way since the roads weren’t bike-ready), Frank Lenz summed up his trip in a letter home: “God help the unfortunate cycler or traveller who crosses China. I could never do it again.”