What happened when a man drove his daughter to the United States?

Recently, a father and daughter in Nanjing have become famous because their daughter was admitted to a university in the United States and the father decided to send his daughter to school by car. From China to Europe and then to the United States, the trip is expected to last more than 300 days, passing through more than 50 countries, and will also visit 100 universities around the world.

The protagonist of the incident is Nanjing self-driving expert Huang Haitao. Before setting off, Huang Haitao said on his self-driving WeChat account that he was "a little excited" and wrote, "I drove around the world for 306 days, traveling through more than 50 countries, and measuring the world with my wheels." "Legal Evening News" reporter contacted Huang Haitao. At the time of the interview, he had just settled in Russia and looked a little tired. However, regarding his trip, Huang Haitao said, "Actually, driving around the world is a dream of mine, and it is also a state of our family. Everyone has a little sentiment."

Eat on the first day of the self-driving journey in Russia Tomato and Egg Soup

When being interviewed by a reporter from France Wan, Mr. Huang’s voice sounded slightly tired, “We just settled in Russia, and we are not in good condition today. This is the fifth day since we set out, and we have been here all the way. There was no difficulty, the main thing was that it took too much time to go through customs.”

Huang Haitao did not expect that it would take eight hours to go through customs from China to Russia. “My daughter and I entered Manzhouli Customs at 8:30 in the morning to go out. The customs clearance procedures at Chinese Customs were very fast. I left the country at around 9 o'clock and entered the Russian Customs. The facilities here were old and extremely inefficient. I turned over all the luggage in the car. After a long wait and inspection, I finally arrived at 4 p.m. Click to exit. It took a full eight hours and I didn’t even have lunch. I was already exhausted.”

Huang Haitao also described his first day in Russia in detail: “The first thing to do when entering Russia is to get a car. The insurance cost 2277 rubles (273 yuan per liter) and the price of Russian 95# gasoline was 41.4 rubles (4.93 yuan per liter) and 98# gasoline was 45 rubles (5.4 yuan per liter). Later, while driving, I found a Chinese restaurant on the roadside. In addition to the Russian words, it also had the words "Harbin Hotel" in Chinese. It looked friendly. We were already hungry and ordered tomato and egg soup and pot dumplings. Fried rice with meat and eggs, plus a large bottle of Coke, cost about 120 yuan. After dinner, we drove for 2 hours and stopped at a hotel called Borgia, which cost 295 yuan, which is similar to a domestic express hotel. The kettles and fans in the hotel are all made in China.”

The self-driving celebrity came up with the idea of ????this trip 5 years ago and started to prepare for it 8 months in advance.

The reporter of "Legal Evening News" learned that this trip was made in China. This is not the first time Huang Haitao and his family have driven around the world. In 2014, the second Youth Olympic Games was successfully held in Nanjing. As early as July 1, 2012, Huang Haitao drove from the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center with his wife, daughter and his niece to start their "Youth Olympic Tour" to promote the Youth Olympics and Nanjing. During the domestic tour, they passed through 30 provinces and cities. After returning to Nanjing to rest, they embarked on an adventure trip to Eurasia and the Arctic. Every time they arrive at a destination, they will enthusiastically promote Nanjing and the Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing in 2014, and extend warm invitations to people of different ethnic groups and nationalities, inviting them to visit this beautiful city of Nanjing.

Huang Haitao recalled: "It was half a year of traveling in China and half a year of traveling in Europe. The theme we thought of was to promote the Youth Olympic Games held in my hometown of Nanjing in 2014. At that time, I said to the two children, 'If I pass the exam, I will drive you to universities in the United States. '"

In fact, as early as 1999, when his daughter was born, Mr. Huang's family started traveling by car. "At that time, they were all in China, short distances. and long-distance travel.” In March this year, my daughter received the admission notice from Seattle University. Therefore, the two decided to set off on May 28.

Huang Haitao said that he and his daughter plan to set off from Nanjing on the 28th, passing through Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and other countries, and then enter European countries, and finally arrive at their destination, the United States. They plan to send their daughter to school on September 20 , the entire journey will pass through more than 50 countries.

Many netizens commented: "Brother Tao has traveled around the world with his family and has long been a celebrity in the circle of car enthusiasts." Mr. Huang responded with a smile: "It's okay."

< p>How long has the "veteran driver" Mr. Huang prepared for a more than 300-day trip around the world? He told reporters, "We started preparations as early as October 2016. At that time, we were still very sure that my daughter would get the admission notice. Otherwise, it would be too late to wait until March this year to start preparations. After she was admitted, we started If you don’t have half a year to prepare for a study abroad visa, you won’t be able to get started.”

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Fawan: Do you have any specific plans for the entire trip?

Huang Haitao: The entire trip is expected to take more than 300 days. It depends on the actual conditions on the road. When I come back, I decided to drive back by myself. For the crucial itinerary strategy, we started preparing half a year ago.

Fawan: So what strategies have you done?

Huang Haitao: Preparations for cross-border self-driving are tedious and long. Initially, we need to apply for visas and car customs clearance passports first, and then make strategies for all countries and formulate themes.

This time we have planned a trip to universities in various countries to learn about the learning characteristics and atmosphere of different schools. We will go and take a look at universities in developing countries, developed countries, and some post-war countries.

Making a strategy now can be said to be complicated or simple. There is so much information online these days. Based on the information on the Internet, carefully sort out the strategies for each country, and combine them with the strategies based on the ideas you formed on the road. If I meet a country I like, I will provide a detailed guide to the village. As long as I can find information, I will take it into consideration. Then I can experience the local customs and foreign culture.

Fa Wan: Generally, the procedures for customs clearance for self-driving tours are relatively cumbersome. What preparations have you made for the customs clearance plan?

Huang Haitao: In order to be foolproof when setting off, I prepared three exit plans. The first one was originally planned to go from China to Pakistan to Afghanistan to Iran, but riots and kidnappings occurred in Pakistan, which was too dangerous. After all, safety is the first priority, so the second option was considered. That is to go through customs from Horgos City in Ili, Xinjiang, and go to Russia, Georgia, and Turkey via Kazakhstan. However, I consider that Kazakhstan is only a transit and is not included in the journey. I am worried that problems may arise due to the troublesome customs procedures. the itinerary. In the end, I decided to adopt the third method, which was to exit from Manchuria in Inner Mongolia.

Fa Wan: What preparations did you make in life before traveling?

Huang Haitao: On this trip, I brought all my clothes for all seasons. Because we are traveling to many countries and the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, we need to prepare all kinds of clothes. In terms of food, I brought some extra instant noodles, Laoganma, salted tofu, and some pickles. Meat products, dairy products, and fruits cannot be taken out of customs and can only be purchased abroad.

There are many uncertainties in travel, and accommodation is always decided on a temporary basis

Fawan: What do you think is the most difficult part of self-driving travel?

Huang Haitao: The most difficult thing is to apply for a visa. It is relatively easy to obtain a customs clearance passport for a car, usually within one to two working days. The most difficult thing is the visa. If you travel to many countries, the visa application will be more troublesome. Generally, you need to start applying for it three months in advance.

Fa Wan: What are the uncertainties during self-driving travel?

Huang Haitao: In view of the uncertainty of self-driving travel, accommodation is decided on a temporary basis. Because self-driving is different from other travels, there are too many uncertain factors, and it is impossible to determine when you can arrive at a certain hotel, so the accommodation is temporarily decided on the road. In addition, in addition to SLR cameras, I also brought a drone. It depends on the laws and regulations of each country. If you violate the local regulations, you will be in trouble. I bring my drone mainly for aerial photography and short videos.

Everyone has small feelings, I just try hard to do it

Fa Wan: Some netizens commented on this, saying, "This is a toss for money" and "The prerequisite is that you have money. ", what do you think?

Huang Haitao: My wife and I used to be primary school teachers. Later we quit our jobs and became freelancers. We put all our family savings into travel. We believe that travel is an attitude. This requires a certain financial foundation, but for me personally, I don’t have much money. This is just my personal ideal, and it is also a living condition of my family. Everyone has their own dreams or little feelings, I just try my best to do it.

Fa Wan: Where did the funds for your global travel mainly come from? Are there any sponsors?

Huang Haitao: Now I can do some small business, and the money for traveling mainly comes from daily savings and accumulation. We did not have any sponsorship for this round-the-world trip. There is no free lunch in the world. We have to work with other people's money. It is too tiring. This is not our original intention.

Life is a pursuit, as long as you have a goal, work hard for it!