The First Chinese Circumnavigator: Hitler Had a Two-Day Conversation with Him, and Roosevelt Gave Him a Gold Medal
The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake deeply affected many people. After witnessing the fragility of life, Zhang Xinyu and Liang Hong decided to embark on a journey to pursue their dreams. Together with their team, they created the outdoor reality show 'Lu Xing', traveling through 24 countries and 60,000+ kilometers in 146 days.
Many people longed to travel like Zhang Xinyu and Liang Hong, but the numerous practical challenges made it difficult to take that first step. Like Pan Deming, his feat opened the first step for all mankind, truly realizing the dream of measuring the world with one's feet.
Pan Deming was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1908. He had studied at Shanghai's Nanyang Senior High School. Because he loved sports from a young age, he started participating in mountain climbing and long-distance running at the age of 7. During the Nationalist period, Western books flowed into China, and he learned about world geography and various travel books.
After graduating from the business school, Pan Deming operated a Western restaurant in Nanjing, which was very successful. In 1930, at the age of 21, Pan Deming accidentally saw a report about a group of young people in Shanghai organizing the 'China Youth Asian Walking Team' with the goal of traveling to Asia.
This report rekindled Pan Deming's long-dormant passion. He had two options: continue to build his career in Nanjing, which he could achieve in three years with his current connections and business, or abandon everything and go on a hiking trip.
At that time, China was labeled as a 'sick man' of Asia, and to wash away this 'shame', Pan Deming chose the latter. He arrived in Shanghai and joined the walking team, traveling south with them. However, due to various reasons, the walking team arrived in Vietnam, and only he remained, despite being exhausted.
In January 1931, Pan Deming bought a 'Lan Ling' bicycle in Saigon, Vietnam, and also made a heavy notebook weighing 4 kilograms, 'The Collection of Famous Writings', to receive inscriptions from famous people from various countries and organizations, which he wrote on the first page: 'Pan Deming's firm and forward-looking attitude, reflecting the characteristics of Chinese nationals and the hope for world glory. This is how he approached the dream.
His journey began. Pan Deming rode his bicycle through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and his deeds spread among Singaporean Chinese overseas. Chinese overseas tycoons were moved by his spirit and provided financial support. In India, he visited famous poet Tagore.
Tagore inscribed: 'I believe you will have a great future. I believe when your country rises, Asia will also have a great future.' He also met Mahatma Gandhi in India, and continued south. At that time, the status of overseas Chinese was low, but his spirit inspired many people.
In 1933, he had already arrived in Germany. His deeds had spread throughout the world, and leaders met with him. Hitler and Göring received Pan Deming, and Hitler spoke with him in detail about the customs and traditions of various parts of the world for two days.
In early January 1934, he arrived in New York City, USA, and Roosevelt gave him a gold medal. In the minds of Westerners, explorers are people worthy of respect, and they have made great contributions to the world's cooperation. Pan Deming's last destination was to visit Japan, but Japan had occupied Northeast China at that time, so he gave up going to Japan and returned to China to fight against the Japanese invasion.
In seven years, he visited 40+ countries and regions. 'The Collection of Famous Writings' also recorded many valuable historical materials. He was the first person in the world to travel around the world on foot.
