Sky Gidge

    skygidge@icloud.com

    THE adventures of a motorcycle riding, Shenzhen-based expatriate are getting noticed in Chinese media.

    Winston Sterzel’s video was featured yesterday on one of China’s most popular video-sharing websites, sohu.com. The preview for “Conquering Southern China” appeared at the top of Sohu’s documentary page.

    “It proves that what we did was worthwhile. I’m really happy about it,” said Winston Sterzel, originally from South Africa, about the documentary getting so much attention.

    Traveling 5,000 kilometers by motorcycle, Sterzel and some friends documented their trips through southern China.

    “We went into the deepest, darkest, unexplored little villages. Places that you have never seen on any other documentary,” he said.

    The documentary was “self-funded” and two people who live in Beijing and work in the film industry traveled with the group.

    Currently, the subtitled preview is finished and some footage appears on YouTube.

    Sterzel said he thinks the editing will be finished in the first half of 2016, after that Sterzel hopes that National Geographic or the Travel Channel will be interested in airing the documentary.

    Sterzel has already established himself as the face of Shenzhen on YouTube, with videos that have been viewed 8 million times.

    “One night we ended up sleeping in an abandoned wooden shack on the side of the road,” Sterzel said. “It’s been a hell of an adventure.”

    The Shenzhen Daily reported on the project in October last year.