Motorhome Trip of a Lifetime: From Düsseldorf to Beijing Interesting Figures & Facts

·Travel dates: 18 April to 23 June 2017.

·10 weeks, more than 13,000 km.
·39 travellers from Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland; 21 motorhomes and one trailer.
·A total of nine countries: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China.
· Stops: Düsseldorf - Warsaw - Riga - Moscow - the Volga Delta - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan and Khiva - Bukhara and Samarkand - Kyrgyzstan - China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region - Taklamakan Desert - Xian and Beijing.
·Tour management: Kostya Abert from Mainz and selected international teams in the different countries.
·Kostya Abert will celebrate his 50th birthday during the trip. He has been travelling by motorhome since he was 18, and - as an enthusiastic caravanning pioneer - he has visited all continents in a motorhome. Since 2002, he has been working as a tour guide for SeaBridge Tours. Prior to that he worked as a lecturer at the University of Mainz (International Relations). He has travelled in China by motorhome every year since 2007 and is considered one of the foremost experts on the topic of caravanning in the ‘Middle Kingdom’.
· The main focus of this trip is China, which the travellers will reach on 23 May. The caravanning scene in the most populated country of the world is ready to hit the road. The infrastructure is being continuously improved, and many campgrounds are currently either being planned or already under construction. Foreign campers will find travelling in China generally safe in all regions and seasons. The supply situation has improved greatly in comparison to previous years.
· Liu Xing, a Chinese citizen, is a member of the travelling group. She worked as an au pair girl for the Abert family and is already a very experienced caravanner.
·The group is expected to arrive in Beijing on 23. June, just in time for the “All in CARAVANING” trade fair. The members of the group are considered caravanning pioneers and will be guests of honour.
·The idea for this dream trip was born at All in Caravaning 2016. In the past years, several caravan drivers have undertaken the exciting road trip from China to CARAVAN SALON in Düsseldorf. Now a return visit is in order to connect the two caravan trade fairs, CARAVAN SALON and All in CARAVANING.
·The return trip will take the group from Beijing to Düsseldorf via Mongolia, Siberia, the Russian heartland, Warsaw and Berlin. This trip of approximately 10,000 km takes seven weeks and crosses nine countries.
·Participants who do not wish to drive home may ship their units from Shanghai. 3-4 travelling couples will make use of this option.

Many visitors to CARAVAN SALON Düsseldorf know Kostya Abert as the key player behind the Traumtouren-Kino, or dream-trip cinema. Since 2009, he and his colleagues, Janette Emerich and Uwe Hamm, have been taking trade fair visitors on virtual trips in their fascinating multi-vision shows. Using top-notch presentation technology, breathtaking photography and acoustic impressions from their trips, they talk live about their dream trips and whisk the trade fair visitors away to a different world.

Kostya Abert will celebrate his 50th birthday during the trip. He has been travelling by motorhome since he was 18, and - as an enthusiastic caravanning pioneer - he has visited all continents in a motorhome. Since 2002, he has been working as a tour guide for SeaBridge Tours. Prior to that he worked as a lecturer at the University of Mainz (International Relations). He has travelled in China by motorhome every year since 2007 and is considered one of the foremost experts on the topic of caravanning in the ‘Middle Kingdom’.

Starting in Düsseldorf, the group will travel through Warsaw, Riga, Moscow and the Volga valley along the legendary Silk Road from west to east. Participants can expect many cultural highlights as well as impressive routes through endless deserts and mighty mountain ranges.

After the official start in Düsseldorf, they will travel through Berlin, Warsaw and Vilnius, reaching Riga on day 4. During the next 10 days, the group will travel across Russia and see the metropolises of Moscow and Volgograd. Then the travellers will follow the river Volga to its delta near Astrakhan. In Kazakhstan, they will cross the divide from Europe to Asia.

Karakalpakstan, the area surrounding the former Aral Sea, offers insights into the vast expanse and solitude of the rugged steppe landscape. Now the travellers access the northern route of the Silk Road and will visit its highlights: Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand - an oriental fairy tale straight out of Arabian Nights. In Uzbekistan, the drive continues through Tashkent and the beautiful Fergana valley before the vehicles climb the asphalt track switchbacks into the high mountain ranges of
 Kyrgyzstan. The old caravansarai of Tash Rabat, at an altitude of 3,300 m, is the last stop in the former USSR before the travellers encounter a new culture in the People's Republic of China.

China - from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region via the Taklamakan Desert to Beijing

Once in China, the group will stay in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for 10 days. They will travel on toward the Trans Taklamakan desert highway between the slopes of the northern Himalayas and the Tarim valley. Here, the group will cross the “desert of no return” on a floating asphalt track. This is one of the most ambitious road construction projects in China. Other highlights include Dunhuang and Crescent Lake, enormous dunes and the famous Buddha caves.

The trip to Beijing continues via the high plains of Tibet, the old city of Xian with its world-famous terracotta army, the gigantic Buddha statues at the renowned Longmen Grottoes, the Pagoda Forest at the Shaolin Temple of Luoyang, the karst mountain ranges behind Shennong and the ancient city of Pingyao. After the ceremonial act at the 6th All in CARAVANING Beijing, some of the motorhomes will be accompanied to the coast and shipped home from Shanghai. The rest of the group will start their return trip on 25 June via Mongolia, Siberia, and the Russian heartland and continue through Warsaw and Berlin back to Düsseldorf. This trip of approximately 10,000 km takes seven weeks and crosses nine countries