Chasing the Sun - The Göta Canal's Journey to China

Author: Deng Wu / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: On October 2, 2005, the replica of the ancient Swedish sailing ship G?teborg set sail from the port of G?teborg, heading towards the distant land of China. It was a romantic journey, as an ancient ship from over two hundred years ago was faithfully recreated. She would follow the same as the original and sail towards the land where the sun rises. This was an adventure, with her three masts fully set with sails, and her wooden, streamlined hull ready to face the fierce winds and towering waves of the sea. This was a journey of friendship, as she would visit five countries across five continents before revisiting her old friend—China.
The two special correspondents of China Central Television's "Exploration and Discovery" program, Deng Wu and Shen Guanghua, followed this voyage throughout, documenting this romantic, thrilling, and fascinating dream journey with vivid words and stunning photographs.
Accepting the arduous task
On September 27, 2005, my colleague Shen Guanghua and I boarded a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Sweden. The Airbus took ten hours to fly from Shanghai to the Scandinavian Peninsula, drawing a diagonal line across the Eurasian continent. But we knew our return journey would take ten months. All the hard work was for the G?teborg, including the efficient and well-organized preparations made by the entire "Exploration and Discovery" program after securing the global exclusive television reporting rights to the G?teborg voyage a month earlier. It also included the frantic work of Shen and me in handing over our responsibilities to other colleagues and rushing between the embassies of several countries along the route to obtain visas. But compared to the immense passion and effort already invested in the G?teborg by the Swedes, all our struggles were truly insignificant.
The G?teborg's legendary journey
As the sunlight of the new century just appeared on the horizon, a nascent sailing ship captured the interest of enthusiasts worldwide. She was the 1,000-ton wooden sailing ship G?teborg, a replica of a Swedish merchant ship from the same name. After ten years of painstaking effort, the G?teborg was successfully launched on June 6, 2003, to the cheers of 100,000 Swedes.
The original G?teborg was built in 1738 and embodied many innovative shipbuilding concepts of the time, making it one of the most advanced merchant ships of its era. However, during the centuries-long era of maritime competition with thousands of ships sailing the seas, the G?teborg was insignificant compared to Zheng He's treasure ships, Columbus's Santa Maria, and Magellan's Victoria. Despite her almost perfect, streamlined hull, which left a fleeting impression in the annals of maritime history, she made three round trips between Sweden and China in her seven years of existence, sailing along the "Silk Road" that European merchants had already traversed countless times. And behind her, larger and faster ships continued to travel the same.
So, what was the real reason the Swedes couldn't forget the G?teborg, and why did she leave her mark in the history of world navigation? The answer should be complex, but it cannot be denied that her dramatic sinking added a series of question marks and exclamation marks to her short life. Let us briefly review the G?teborg's original ship's spectacular life.
In 1731, the "Swedish East India Company," with the goal of developing the "Asia," was established. In 1738, the ship, named after Sweden's largest port of G?teborg, was launched and became the largest merchant ship in Sweden at the time. From early 1739 to summer 1745, the G?teborg made three round trips to China, bringing back vast quantities of porcelain, silk, and tea. These goods were almost luxuries in Europe at the time, and it was said that the total value of the goods brought back by the G?teborg on each voyage was equivalent to Sweden's annual gross national product.
In the summer of 1743, the G?teborg left Sweden for her third voyage to China, but this journey did not go smoothly from the start. Before reaching the Pacific, a third of the crew had lost their lives to an epidemic. When the ship finally managed to reach Indonesia, the southwesterly monsoon had passed, so the crew had to wait in the port for eight months before setting sail again.
In early 1745, the G?teborg, loaded with Chinese goods, left Guangzhou and after another eight months of travel, finally entered the Kattegat Sea of Northern Europe. G?teborg was now in sight. However, just 900 meters from the port, the G?teborg inexplicably deviated from its course and entered the famous Haniabad Reef area.
Suddenly, seawater rushed into the ship, and the G?teborg slowly sank while tilting. Thanks to the rapid rescue efforts of nearby ships, all the crew on the sinking ship were saved, with no casualties. However, only a quarter of the cargo was salvaged. Even with just this portion, the shareholders of the Swedish trading company still made a profit, recovering the cost of building the ship.
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