Guangxi "Snail Man" Spends 3 Months Trekking with House on his Back

39 year old Liu Lingchao from Liuzhou city of Guangxi Autonomous Region, has spent six years collecting discarded waste and bottles for a living and making annual trips with his collected paraphernalia on his back to his hometown, garnering him the nickname of "Snail Man".
 
This is the sixth year that he has walked back home with his "house" on his back. His portable bamboo hut, which is decorated with colored ribbons and plastic flowers, is relatively better looking and more stable than previous years, said Tencent.

Around 10 years ago, Liu was traumatized by his father 's death from an accident and a divorce from his wife. He then feared to live inside his house, because he "was afraid of that the house would be toppled".

The snail man became a hit online, with many web users and reporters paid visits to his house. However, he remains isolated and socially distant, and was not used to standing too close to visitors when they asked to take photos with him.
It has taken Liu a few months to walk the entire length of his journey, departing from Wuzhou and then heading back to Liuzhou.

The process of collecting discarded materials for his portable home is a repetitive one, consisting putting down his house at constant junctures, walking forward to pick up empty water bottles and sorting them into woven bags, and then retracing his steps to deposit them and heaving the house back on to his shoulders.