Although Li finished his odyssey mostly by himself, he walked with other hitchhikers occasionally. Once he followed another traveler walking in the icy wind, on the edge of being overcome by the snowstorm, their fatigue and their backpacks.

"I looked at his back. He was so thin and vulnerable, like he was about to be blown away by the wind," Li said. "Then he stopped, and slowly extended his arm toward the road and stuck out his thumb. I suddenly felt he wasn't just calling for a ride. He also gave the thumbs-up gesture to me, saying ‘Good job!'"

"What is the difference between death and living a bland life?" he wrote in his application for school leave. "What is the point of a future if you keep living the same life day after day?"

Li said most people dream of things they want to do, but always hesitate to take the first step.

As a college student majoring in communication engineering, Li dreamed of getting out of his boring test-taking life, and aimed for new exciting experiences. But after he came back from his hitchhiking trip, he found the excitement of traveling had faded, as had the cynical feelings about normal life.

"You could live a normal but meaningful life. The point is don't waste time in waiting. If you want to do something just go ahead and do it," he wrote in his book, which is going to be published in April. "The positive thinking my trip brings me, if not the excitement, will last for a long time."

pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn