A Grand Welcoming in Malaysia

Despite what I described of somewhat of an internal conflict in policies and concepts, we have still received nothing but the best hospitality and friendliness. There is no doubt that Malaysia has three very distinct cultures, Malay, Indian, and Chinese, but we were welcomed and applauded equally by each. Along the road, people would honk and wave, and as with elsewhere everyone we met we very interested in our trip and very supportive. Along the road, we were given small gifts from different shop and guesthouse owners, but the best gifts are still the encouraging shouts from the side of the road and the welcoming waves and smiles in the cities.

Old building; old car, Taiping

On our fourth day of cycling in Malaysia, we were still unsure of where we were going to stay that night. This is very common on our trip. We knew we had to be in Kuala Lumpur in a few days, but other than that we had no set plan. There is a saying in China that "Changes happen faster than plans." I have truly come to understand this on our trip. Anyways we saw a sign for a town alittle off our path, but had heard it was nice so we decided to spend the night there. At dinner that night we met up with a friend of a friend, which turned into about 10 friends. Each person who came called a friend who came shortly after. By the end of the night we had drank a few cases of beer, been interviewed by a reporter, and made plenty of friends who even bought us a birthday cake to celebrate David's birthday.

Mr. Chuah and his charcoal factory

Taiping Lake Park

Needless-to-say we decided to spend the next day seeing the sites around Taiping and I'm glad we did. Taiping sits a little inland on the edge of some mountains. There is a beautiful park with Malaysia's largest man-made lake and plenty of walking and cycling paths. We also visited a traditional charcoal factory led by the enthusiastic owner Mr. Chuah, the mangrove forests, and enjoyed a wonderful seafood lunch on the waterfront. After showing us around the area our new friends treated us to a delicious dinner and some fine whiskey!

"Satu Malaysia!" says our new friends in Taiping

From Taiping it took us three more days to Kuala Lumpur, with some great cycling down the coast. So far palm forests have dominated the landscapes, used to harvest palm oil, but the coastal roads and villages make it all worthwhile.

The team posing as a circus infront of the Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Radio 988 broadcasting

We stayed three full days in Kuala Lumpur. When I say full, I mean they were completely full. Gong Kai Ming, a Malaysian friend who works in Shanghai, as well as a few others, organized our schedule and packed it with interviews, presentations, and activities. Our first day we were interviewed live on 988 Radio, for an hour about our trip. Meanwhile several newspapers came to report on the event, including the Star Newspaper, the largest circulated English newspaper in Malaysia.

We were also invited to a Chinese High School, in Seremban, about 50 kilometers outside of Kuala Lumpur, where we were welcomed by a full auditorium of over 2000 students, teachers, and community members. Fei Bao gave a wonderful presentation titled "Dreams Enlighten Your Life" and afterwords we all signed postcards for the students.

Another day we attended a small exhibition that Gong Kaiming put on for the community about our trip and Fei Bao's other adventures. During the exhibition, Fei Bao gave a small speech to an audience of about 30 people. It was nice, becuase it left alot of time for a great Q&A session, where everyone participated.

Cycling Southeast Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur

 One of our more formal meetings was a trip to Putrajaya, where the nations capital buildings are. Here me met the Sports and Youth Minister of Malaysia as well as the Board of Health Promotion.

The Youth and Sprots Minister, Mr. Yan Bing Shou

We have now left Kuala Lumpur, again following the coast south. It was a mess leaving the city, and we were stuck on the expressway a couple times. We are now seven people as the geologist from Kunming, Fei Xuan, has joined us to complete the trip together. Fei Xuan has joined Fei Bao any many exhibitions, including being the first Chinese team to cross Greenland and the Sahara Desert.


I cannot express the gratitude that we have as a team to all the people we have met along the way in Malaysia. No matter what color, what language, what religion, or what culture, we have been treated so well that it has been hard to leave every city that we go to. Our next stop is Melaka where we will deliver our letters to the Mayor and see what friendship brings this time!

Check out more photos here!