Christoph Rehage started walking on November 9, 2007 and stopped in October 2008. He traveled over 4500 kilometers (2796 miles). All of the distance from Beijing to Ürümqi was completely on foot. The times where you can see him in the video riding a boat or sitting on a plane are during breaks Christoph had to take from walking, either to sort out bureaucracy issues or to take care of some personal issues. 

Christoph was asked about his state of mind while he was walking and what he was thinking. He replied “It was just the way it would be on any normal day. Sometimes you think. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you worry about passports, dangers, pains, relatives and loved ones, and at other times your steps are light and you sing songs in the desert. Sometimes it is boring. And sometimes you feel at peace.”

When he was asked why he stopped walking, Christoph said, “I wanted to gain back my life. I had to regain control over myself, eliminate the inner boss that was telling me what to do. A lot of people look at the video thinking “I want to be free like that guy!” – but they don’t realize that I was driven by something, and maybe I was losing control over it.”