Home

Portfolio
Residential Photography
Commercial Photography
Log Construction
360° Panoramas
Client List

Yu Juanjuan
First woman to ride around China's border.


Travel & Sports
Photography & Video


Contact Us


Yu Juanjuan leaving Beijing, Sept. 1987.
 

Yu Juanjuan, 1st woman to ride around China's Border, September 1987 to July 1989

Yu Juanjuan was born in Beijing in 1958. Having lived most of her life in a huge city (2 years were spent in the country farming) she had a yearning to see what was outside of Beijing. Here is a list of her travels:

1981- From Beijing to Bei Dai He river to the China Sea.

1982- Beijing to the Northeast Summer Palace, 500 Kilometers.

1983- Beijing to Hunan Western National Park Zhang Jin Jie,

1984- Beijing to Hainan Island.

1985- Beijing north to Mohe.

1986- West to the ancient Capital of Xian.

1987 to 1989- 2 years, 40,000 Kilometers around the border of China, see map. Visited 22 provinces and met 37 minorities. Yu Juanjuan wrote 300,00 entries in her journal.


Click on any image or line to enlarge.
All photo courtesy of Yu Juanjuan, not by Philip Wegener


Yu Juanjuan winning the
Tour of Beijing, May 1987

The 5 of us are about to leave
Beijing for 2 years

My teams members escorting us to the edge of Beijing.

Old European buildings in Shandong.

Having fun in a bamboo
forest in Zhejiang

Juanjuan & another team member in Jiangsu

In Xiamen, Gulangyu Island.

Feeding Monkeys on Hainan
Island in a game reserve.

Guanxi Province on the
border with Vietnam, the "Friendship Gate"
One team member
had already left.

Yunnan Province, Stupas near
the border with Thailand and Laos.

Yunnan Province, In Dali Juanjuan is
wearing a dress worn by the Bai women.
In front of the "Three Towers", "San Ta".

Leaving Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.
By now we were down to 3 team member. The next day another left.

In Lhasa Tibet. It took us
70 days to bike here,
Lhasa sits at 3,650 meters
(11,975 ft) & is one of
the highest cities in the world.

By now Juanjuan was alone, all
team members had abandonded the trip.
Enjoyed her "huge dining room"
Wide open spaces and
no one to bother her

But not always the best sleeping conditions.

Stupas on the Tibetan Plateau

Tanggula Pass, the highest road in the
World, 5231 Meters high, 17,162feet.
On the Tibet to Qinghai Road.

Nice Summer weather,
August on the Tibetan Plateau. 4,000 plus meters.

Now at 2,000 meters, saying
goodbye to the Tibetan Plateau,
hello to the Silk Road Desert.

With Watermelons in Xinjiang
Province, the Muslim area. Juanjuan is
wearing one braid for each year.
Traditional Han clothing and a Xinjiang hat.

Hand made noodles in
the Silk Road area.

My 1st real meal in a week, Nang,
a local flat bread, and mutton.

In Kashkar, near
Afghanis tan & Kyrgyzstan.

The border with Pakistan

At a horse race in the northern Silk
Road Desert. Borrowed horse and dress.

Taklamakan desert at a 2,000 year old
outpost, now called the Devil's City.

The power lines were my friend

Turpan basin beneath the
snowclad Tian Shan mountains.
The western most point in China

From Urumchi, the capital of Xinjiang Province to Gansu Province, nothing.

The Xinjiang/Gansu border.

Tian Xia Xiong Guan,
"Under Heaven Hero Gate
at Jiayuguan Pass
The western end of the Great Wall.

Inner Mongolia in December 1988

I am lucky to be alive.

Inner Mongolia Very warm & comfortable

Juanjuan met a couple of women originally from Beijing. In the 60's during the Cultural Revolution they were both sent to the desert.

After Mao died they were allowed to return to Beijing with their husbands and one child. The problem they both had was that they both had 2 children. This didn't matter to the Communist Party, just one child each.

A traditional Evenki woman. Originally from Siberia the Evenki live in the Hulun
Buir area of Inner Mongolia.
Still following the old ways.

At a border station spying on the People's Republic of Mongolia.

Talking to the local TV station

jj42.jpg

jj43.jpg

jj44.jpg

jj45.jpg

jj46.jpg

jj48.jpg

jj49.jpg

jj50.jpg

jj51.jpg

jj53.jpg