Foot loose and fancy free is a state of being best enjoyed when one is young, and one enjoyed by Lawrence Doughty during his 'gap year' between high school and university.

The 18-year-old has recently returned from a five-month sojourn in China, frequently travelling off the beaten path and experiencing the sights and sounds of rural south-west China as well as the big-city bustle of Shanghai and Beijing.

And one of the most satisfying aspects of the whole experience was doing it off his own bat — funding as well as planning.

He wanted to visit a country he'd never been to before, and fascinated with Asia, settled on China.

The fact that a family friend, Marie Louise Lucas, a buyer for Gibbons Company, was based in Shanghai was a contributing factor.

Even in a country with an exchange rate as favourable to Westerners as China's, funds must be raised, and Lawrence worked locally in the Marks and Spencer warehouse for several months while living at home.

At the end of January he travelled to the UK, staying with his sister Becki, a student in Bristol, while he got his travel documents in order.

He applied for a travel visa through a company that specialises in arranging visas for a fee of £90, and received the necessary documents within two weeks.

Initially the idea was to apply for a part-time job teaching English as a second language, and, in fact, he was offered employment by a Chinese company; however, it was a six-month contract, requiring a commitment five days a week, nine to five, for 6,000 k'uai ($900) a month, leaving no time for travel.

Ms Lucas helped Lawrence 'get sorted', providing accommodation in her flat and showing him around the city which he described as, "Awesome. It's really modern and easy to get around, but there are some traditional Chinese aspects.

"Chinese people like to do everything on the streets," he elaborated. "Older people sit out playing mah jong. There's a market on every other corner.

"One street is an antiques market, with stalls along both sides of the street. There four older men sat everyday playing mah jong, surrounded by other men betting on the action."

Adopting as his personal motto "Why not?", he bought a bicycle, which allowed him to explore the city more extensively. Not being able to read Chinese and follow the road signs wasn't much of a handicap as, "Driving in Shanghai is pretty crazy. You just have to go for it. It's all a bit touch-and-go.

"Traffic lights seem to be optional for bikes, but if you're a westerner, a Lao Wai, you're less likely to get hit as it's expensive to hit a foreigner."

From his Shanghai base he made several trips to other cities, including Nanjing, the old capital and site of the notorious slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens following the capture of the city by the Japanese Imperial Army in December 1937.

The museum about the Japanese occupation is also a memorial to the dead, and "really interesting, but very grim."

Another trip took Lawrence north-east to Harbin to the annual ice-festival featuring magnificent ice sculptures some the size of six-storey buildings.

And later, in the spring, there was a trip to Beijing, to take in the culture of the old imperial court.

The highlight of the five-month sojourn was an extensive trip south west to Yunnan Province, beginning with a 37-hour train ride to the provincial capital, Kun Ming, through beautiful countryside of rice paddies, tea plantations, rivers and mountains.

The sleeper car slept four, though an elderly lady shared her bed with her grandson, and worn and 'nearly clean' sheets were provided each day.

Lawrence brought snacks with him, pot noodles that could be heated up with water from the hot water tap in each rail car.

By this time he had learned a little Chinese, and the menu in the restaurant car helpfully had pictures next to the Chinese characters, so he was able to sample some of the wild mushroom dishes; "I wasn't very adventurous," he explained.

There was also a snack trolley that came through the car hourly.

Seeing little to keep him in Kun Ming, which he described as "a concrete jungle", he carried on to Jing Hong, a 10-hour bus journey.

The Lonely Planet guide to China and travellers' cafés run by foreigners provided enough insider knowledge for him to find accommodation, travel arrangements and guides.

While in Jing Hong he met up with two Frenchmen in one such café, and the three of them hired a local Chinese guide, Li Hui, to take them on a three-day trek around the neighbouring countryside.

The young guide, a waitress in one of the cafés, in addition to taking them to some amazing sites, arranged meals and accommodation with local villagers.

Outside influences were minimal in the rural villages: there were no roads for cars, only footpaths, and meals required a leap of faith.

"I ate things which to this day I don't know what they were," Lawrence noted with a laugh.

Back in the provincial capital, Lawrence took two other trips, one to the touristy river town of Li Jiang, and another to Zhong Dian, near the border with Tibet, which was very Tibetan in flavour.

Asked if he ever felt vulnerable, he did say that occasionally on public transportation he was concerned that he might be robbed while asleep, and having "Bermuda Resident" stamped in his passport caused some anxiety during the Uighur troubles in Xinjian, but otherwise he found the locals, especially in the smaller towns, friendly and helpful, and public transportation efficient if somewhat basic.

Now back in Bermuda, looking for a job to restore depleted coffers, he has a year of happy memories, and is keen to start studying environmental geoscience at Cardiff University.