2009 Visiting the Xu Fu’s Park in Shingu, Wakayama, Japan. The then 98 year old man in the wheelchair is Mr. Okuno, an authority on Xu Fu, who Tim Severin met with 1993
2009 Visiting the major of Shingu, Wakayama, Japan to discuss a re-enactment of Xu Fu’s voyage from China to Japan (and on to America?)
2009 Visiting Xu Fu’s grave, Shingu, Wakayama, Japan
2009 Last of four coins that Xu Fu supposingly brought to Shingu, Wakayama, Japan
2009 Caretaker of Xu Fu’s grave and remaining coin
2009 Old mates Li Jinhua and Christian well positioned to contemplate Xu Fu’s historical voyage, Quanzhou, China
2009 Quanzhou Maritime Museum’s possible design for Xu Fu’s vessel
2018 Display Case 21, The Americas, British Museum
2018 Greenwich Maritime Museum, London
2018 Needham Research Institute, Cambridge
2018 California Museum, Sacramento, USA. Any Chinese colony in America could over time have been absorbed into the Native American culture and then further decimated along with the Native Americans without a trace
2018 Looking for pre-Columbus Chinese junk, supposingly sunk in the Sacramento River at Glenn. It was a hoax
2018 Prickely pear, California, one of the foods reported by Hui Shen in the Liangshu
2018 Looking for Chinese pottery pieces at Bodega Bay, California. They exist, but post date Columbus
2018 Chinese Pottery Pieces at Drakes Bay, California, post-date Columbus
2019 Finding my ancestor’s letters at the Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France, Paris
2019 Napoleon Bonaparte’s scandalous Chinese dictionary, which Christian’s ancestor Pierre had a role to play in
2019 Evan Bouton, French researcher, and Christian enjoying a time-out
2019 Evan Bouton, French researcher, and Christian at the Académie des Sciences, Paris, looking for Joseph de Guignes 1761 essay on Fusang
2019 In Yuegang with Sun Haibin, Jin Pei and Li Jinhua visiting a potential boat builder for ancient vessel
2019 Inspecting possible ship designs at boatbuilder’s home in Yuegang
2019 Maritime Historian, Professor Li in his office, Tamkang University, Taiwan
2019 Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan
2019 Painting of Junk at Macao Maritime Museum
2020 Reproduction of Tang Dynasty ship. British Museum, London
2020 Extract from Kaempfer’s History of Japan, British Library, London
2020 Joseph Needham’s four box files pertaining to pre-Columbus contact between Asia and America, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge
Row Round Denmark for Clean Seas
Coming soon…
Swim-Run-Swim to get a Lifeboat
Start of GR10, Hendaye
Up, up and away!
A fair way down
View from the office
A tricky part of the route
Fellow hikers
Company, finally!
That probably leads somewhere …?
Having a rest
Shin splint theraphy
Incentive to run faster
Laundry day
Traffic jam
Pic du Canigou (2784m)
More views from the office
At the end of the rainbow…
Run, Forrest, run!
The trail goes on and on…
Finished! Banyuls sur Mer
Final dip after having worn out three pairs of shoes
Cruising China’s coast and Yangtze River
At anchor in Hong Kong waiting for favorable winds
Clearing Customs and Immigration
Christian hoisting the yellow quarantine flag to indicate that there is no disease on board
Life on board. We were not allowed to sail without a pilot on board
Luggage and camera equipment for the voyage
Mooring in Xiamen
Troels Kløvedal (left) and Christian visiting the tombstone of Christian’s relative who died in Macao in 1776
Troels Kløvedal and Else Marie’s weddding at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
Troels Kløvedal (left) with HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark, who paid a visit on board Nordkaperen in Hong Kong
Another improvised mooring
Another day in the office
Approaching Xiamen
Christian trying to bring HRH Prince Joachim and the Ambassador safely ashore
China does not have the best marinas, but they managed
Passing Bocca Tigris (虎門) on the way to Guangzhou
Sino-Viking Trans-Atlantic Rowing Joint Venture
Our boat Yantu was built in China in modest conditions. It was the first ocean rowing boat to be built in China
The China launch. The winch got stuck, but apart from that everything went fine
Our first row together in our new boat
Volunteers at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club who kitted out the boat and helped make our race entry possible
Safety training in Hong Kong
Tenerife – Packing food late into the night
The water maker. Can’t live with it and can’t live without it…
Sun Haibin shows off his culinary skills in their well equipped kitchen
Serious local Spanish competition!
Packing our grab bag the night before the race start
The hatch which eventually broke mid ocean due to faulty hinges leaving us pretty exposed
Sun Haibin was proud to represent China
Race day. All set to go!
Race start in Tenerife. Everyone headed West and we rowed South. Plan the row and row the plan…
Sun Haibin rowing
Picture from inside the cabin out on Christian rowing
Waves were big at times…
Sun Haibin rowing in big waves
They saw wales a number of times
More rowing…
Not all pain. Also beautiful sunsets
They almost got run down by a skip in the middle of the night
Repairing seat, trying to prevent the pain
Sun Haibin cut his clothes to prevent chafing
Wear and tear mid ocean. Nothing compared to the state of their butts…
Sun Haibin rowing in a rainstorm
Barbados on the horizon. Sun Haibin’s smile says it all
Arrival in Barbados in 8th position. When they stepped onto the jetty they fell over, because they were not used to stand on solid ground
They made it!
Savouring a whole different level of comfort after 56 days at sea on a camping mattress
Living it up in Barbados after two months of freeze dried food
All objectives achieved. The Chinese writing between Christian and Sun Haibin reads “Together we achieve more”
A hero’s welcome back at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
English Book Launch in Hong Kong
HRH Crown Prince Frederik, who is the Protector for United World Colleges in Denmark, visited their stand at the Copenhagen Boat Show
Selling raffel tickets at the Copenhagen Boat Show in support of United World Colleges
After the row Christian visited UWC Atlantic and met with the two Chinese students they had sponsored; Zhou Jin (left) and Wang Hui. Brilliant guys!
On return to China the Chinese media went crazy. Here Christian and Sun Haibin are guests on CCTV 5’s exclusive prime time “Five Rings Night Show” (五环夜话)
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