Two students roller skate 567km from Shandong to Beijing

While roller skating is often seen on public squares, nobody associates it with long-distance journeys. But two young men travelled 567 kilometers by roller skating from their university in Jining, Shandong province, to Beijing in 5 days during the National Day holiday.

Carrying basic luggage, the two students from Jining University started their journey on Oct 1, and arrived in Beijing on Oct 6. It was a tough journey; they worn off 12 bearings of their roller skating shoes.

"The awful conditions like muddy roads hurt our feet. Sometimes we couldn't skate," said Wang Yang, one of the two students. "After a day of skating, we felt pain in our feet at night but felt little better in the morning."

Wang said he and his classmate met in the roller skating club in the university, and both had the dream to travel long distance by roller skating. This National Day holiday was perfect timing to fulfill the long-planned long-distance skating, he said.

First they had to persuade their parents. "Our families were concerned about our safety. But we took the opinions of professionals," he said.

On Oct 7, the two students posted their travelling photos on Sina Weibo, China's most popular social media, arousing people's attention: appraises and worries.

"Bravo!" "Where there's a will, there's a way." "Hope roller skating bring more youthful energy." Some said their skating might cause traffic accidents on road, and the behavior violated traffic rules.

Wang said that they did think about traffic rules.

According to traffic rules, roller staking is banned on roads. Beijing traffic police said that roller skating should not be done on roads and violators could face fines.