Architect's cycling journey spins his intellectual wheel

While it normally takes over 10 hours to fly from Amsterdam to Shanghai, if you've ever wondered how long the trip would take by bicycle, Ole Bouman has the answer — 156 days.

Born in 1960 in Amersfoort, Netherlands, Bouman is a Dutch-German historian, writer, publisher, photographer, curator, lecturer and practitioner of design and architecture, and now a professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University in Shanghai.

Departing from Amsterdam in early February, Bouman cycled 10,756 kilometers through 18 countries and regions, as well as more than 500 historical sites, mapping an adventure filled with discoveries about people, cultures, stories, understanding and connection.

"From Amsterdam to Shanghai, the journey was never just about the distance. My bicycle became more than just a way to get from point A to point B; it was a companion, a tool, a way to dig into the world up close," writes Bouman in his blog, making a joke that he was just "commuting from home to work".