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ORIENTAL Christmas ... Mr Ashworth in Guandong province
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Hong Kong Christmas for Fat Ashy
28/12/2007
A SHAW teacher riding around the world to raise money for Springhill Hospice hopes to spend Christmas in Hong Kong.
Tony Ashworth, known affectionately by pupils at Crompton House School as Fat Ashy, is in Guandong Province – formerly Canton – having just passed through the 9,000km barrier (5,594 miles) on his epic ride.
The 45-year-old business studies teacher, who is aiming to raise £10,000 for the hospice, began his journey taking in four continents, when the school year ended last July.
He hopes to be back in time for the start of the new school year in September 2008.
The first three months on the road saw Mr Ashworth riding across Europe, via the Baltic states, before he flew home to Shaw for a ‘bit of a rest’ and to replace his by then well-weathered means of transport with some new wheels.
The Asian leg of his long trip began in India before he moved on to China just over a month ago, reaching Shanghai at the end of November.
In his diary – available by logging on to www.crazyguyonabike.com – he writes: "I am still yet to find a single person who speaks English.
"As I went into a coffee shop asking for the internet (signalling his intention with an imaginary keyboard) the shop assistant took me to the grand piano as she thought I wanted to play it."
And while Mr Ashworth has enjoyed a gentle jibe or two at the Chinese expense, he’s also been on the receiving end, too, sparking laughter all round fellow diners when he began eating a meal by picking up the wrong the end of a pair of chopsticks!
After Hong Kong, the cycling teacher will head to Australia and New Zealand before flying across the Pacific to the United States and finally back across the Atlantic to Ireland and, eventually back home.
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30/12/2007 at 21:36