In 2000, at the New Zealand exhibition of some of his paintings, Zhai came across an elderly sailor from Norway. Zhai asked him how many countries he had been to. "I don't really know exactly, but a lot. I've actually sailed around the earth one and half times," he replied. The old sailor's words had a big impact on Zhai. Using what was left of his savings, he spent RMB 300,000 on a secondhand 8-meter-long sailboat from a marina in Auckland, even though he knew close to nothing about sailing at the time. The boat's former owner took him out for a sail and, realizing Zhai would struggle on his own, offered to teach him the basics. Five hours later, Zhai had mastered the sailing essentials, and from that point on was hooked.

"I suppose my gift for art is inferior to that for sailing," Zhai said. "I've been drawing since I was six or seven years old, but I crammed sailing techniques pretty quickly." Soon, he was off on his own, and since then his life has been closely bound to the open ocean.

The World Waits

"To travel around the world, out of all modes of transport, sailing is probably the most convenient and economical. To drive you need visas and flying is restricted to set routes. But boats and ships can go anywhere the ocean takes them. You can disembark at any port after going through simple Customs formalities," Zhai said, adding, "Sailing is truly liberating. It is you, your boat and the ocean. You can sail anywhere you like."

Before his circumnavigation, Zhai visited many islands in the south Pacific, and also sailed the length of China's coastline. "Chinese will no doubt be exploring the oceans in greater numbers in the future. I really want to encourage more people to take up the sport." Indeed China has a long and glorious sailing past, and has been a great maritime civilization. Six hundred years ago, Admiral Zheng He made seven epic voyages, on each of which he led a fleet of more than 300 ships, accommodating 27,000-29,000 people. The largest ship was over 130 meters long.

In January 2007, Zhai headed out from Rizhao, Shandong Province, officially kicking off his global voyage. "I planned to finish the circumnavigation in one year, but ended up at sea for two and half years." His unpowered sailboat, bought in New Zealand, was not up to the task, and needed to be worked on almost every time he arrived at a new port. By that time, Zhai had become extremely knowledgable about sailboats, and never had to hire anyone to fix the problems with his vessel.

"What was the most dangerous moment on your voyage?" is a question Zhai hears a lot. "The fact that I returned alive shows, I think, that there were no real life-threatening dangers along the way," is the reply he usually gives. Although this answer sounds quite relaxed, he has faced many problems. In December 2008, on his way back home from Guam, he arrived unintentionally at an uninhabited Philippine island. There, a storm hit just as he was falling violently ill. He was severely incapacitated for five days, passing in and out of consciousness and thinking he wouldn't make it off the island. "There was no doctor on the island; I couldn't sit up, let alone sail. I doubted whether I would make it."

Before setting off on his round-the-world trip, Zhai didn't really think about or make contingencies for difficulties. "When you run into a problem, the best thing to do is not get caught up in the psychology of the struggle but just go on and work out a practical solution."

A Sailing Craze

"Not many people were interested in sailing as a sport 10 years ago," Zhai said. "They failed to see the exploration and adventure aspect of it."

Zhai's successful circumnavigation triggered a domestic sailing craze. "I finished my global tour and was back unscathed. This generated a great deal of media and public interest in sailing." The increasing numbers of yacht racing events held in China, such as the China Cup Yacht Race and China-Korea-Japan Keelboat Race, have also sparked ordinary people's interest in sailing.

Zhai is currently recruiting sailors for the 2012 China Global Sailing Movement. At present, more than 5,000 people have applied. A total of 100 candidates will be selected, and the first group of 10 will be trained in Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, a skipper who has participated in the Clipper Round of the World Yacht Race. Subsequent groups will be trained in China and the U.S.

"People have shown great enthusiasm for the movement. There is even one female applicant on the books over 70 years old," Zhai said. "I don't want to set any age limits for applicants. From eight to eighty, anyone is welcome. We don't care who the person is, where one comes from or what one does for a living; we just want to get people passionate about sailing."

The movement's global voyage will kick off in the second half of the year with a fleet of six vessels. They plan to dock at 33 ports in 27 countries. "I've met almost all these countries' ambassadors to China, so we should have plenty of support from governments." A number of countries, including Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Chile, have already intimated that they will arrange meetings between their countries' presidents and the sailors. The Seychelles also plans to organize a festival in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Chinese settlers' arrival on its shores on the days the fleet is in town.

Zhai purchased the yachts to be used in the global voyage in France. Although the boats are secondhand, they are world class, and were previously used in the Vendée Globe race.

"I choose those racing yachts because I also plan to make some preparation to participate in the Vendée Globe," Zhai confessed. No Asian sailor has ever competed in this event, recognized as the most grueling solo race on the world sailing calendar. The race kicks off in France, and competitors head down via the Cape of Good Hope to Antarctica. From there, they circle the southern continent clockwise before heading back up to France via Cape Horn and the South American coastline. The race is regarded as an ultimate endurance challenge, and satellite telephones are the only connections competitors have with the outside world during the four-month marathon. "The most adrenalin-pumping part of the race is that there is no assistance at all. There are no rescues. If you find yourself stranded with a leaking boat in the middle of the Southern Ocean, you will most likely die. Those are the rules." Ordinary folk would most likely bow out in the face of such a challenge, but for Zhai, challenges are his bread and butter.