Yes, a crazy bunch of young people made it from Istanbul (Turkey) to Beijing, some 12,500 Km, starting 7 March 2013 and ending 15 August.
See: http://www.thestudyroad.com/
The road: Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Beijing.
The team: Melanie Hoetmer (student in Neuroscience), Ben Seagar (Architect and winemaker), Hedda ten Holder (student in Media and Culture), Zhenbao Jin (Lawyer and Professor in Civil Law) and Joya van Hout (Founding Director), and other. Nationalities: The Netherlands, China, New Zealand.
I was fortunate to meet the team of these great adventurers in Beijing on 8 August and I talked about my book “Toxic Capitalism”, the 2008 Beijing Olympics and more. Location: 2nd floor of Nearby The Tree in Sanlitun.
Their tour is a great promotion for biking, especially in China where bikes are many but not used enough. I do see more and more Chinese young people on expensive and fancy bikes. Cool.