A 37-year-old Tibetan began on Saturday a planned 5,000 kilometers solo bike trip to Beijing to support the capital city's Olympic Games in 2008.

If Pubu Ciren, a driver of the local traffic industrial company, succeeds, he will be the first Tibetan to achieve such a feat.

Ciren, who has long dreamed of a marathon bike journey, plans to pedal through eight provinces and autonomous regions before reaching Beijing, within two months.

His plan has obtained firm support from his mother and wife.

(Xinhau News Agency May 1, 2004)