travelling-blogger

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He moves slowly but surely and when he wants a rest he simply slinks into the home he carries on his back - it's no wonder Liu Lingchao is known as the 'Snail Man'.

Liu, 39, came up with an ingenious way to make a living in the Chinese city of Liuzhou and travel from his rural home a three day's walk away free of expenses.

Liu walks to Liuzhou in central China's Guangxi Autonomous Region to collect rubbish to sell for recycling - it's not a lucrative career option but works for him given his overheads are so low.

Liu Lingchao, 39, carries his home on his back while he makes his living in the city of Liuzhou

Liu has been dubbed Snail Man by locals as he walks the streets collecting rubbish to sell for recycling

While in the city, he sleeps in his portable home - it's too deluxe to call a tent - and relies only on only his feet for transport. 

'My life started to fall apart six-years-ago when I lost my job after my father died, and my marriage broke up and my wife left me,' he said. 

'I was struggling to get back on my feet, and then I realised that I really needed to be doing something to get me out of my depression. 

'About the only thing that seemed to be possible was getting involved in garbage recycling collecting plastic bottles and stuff, but the best place to do that is in the city and by the time you've paid accommodation and all the rest of it, there isn't much left.'

The interior of Liu's deluxe portable home away from home, complete with bedding and decorations

Liu walks about three days from his village to Liuzhou where he doesn't have to pay for accommodation

Liu searches a roadside for garbage he can sell while his portable home sits on the ground  

Liu appreciates the nickname given to him by locals accustomed to seeing him wandering the streets with his unique shelter on his shoulders.

'I came up with the idea of making a makeshift home that I could just move around easily,' Liu says. 'And now I put it on my back, and walk to the city where I spend a while collecting garbage and selling it.

'When I've collected enough, I then walk back home again. It means I have to pay nothing on accommodation and nothing on travel either.'

The hardy traveller lost his job and his wife, so hit the road with his portable home to make a living

When he needs to make a longer journey, Liu can pack down his home to an easier to manage size

The journey between between the village in which he has a smallholding home and the nearby capital city takes about three days, and with every trip the 'Snail Man' says his little home has evolved.  

'I covered it in plastic flowers and tidied it up so that even when I stop in a posh district, it does not look out of place. In fact I even make some money now with people paying me to take photographs. I tell them it's my penthouse, it may be small but it's home and it works.'

While his shell remain in its full form while he's in the city, Liu can in fact break in down for his long journey home.