Venture into the Unexpected with Greg Abandoned

Ana Padilla Fornieles | Jun 13, 2022 10:54 am | Add a comment | 351 reads

Along with a great many sites of historical significance, China is also home to a great many abandoned parks, places, airfields, train depots and more. And even if you can't reach it on your own, there's a book that can take you there.

I am talking about Abandoned China, penned by a Polish adventurer who goes by the moniker of Greg Abandoned. In the first volume of his trio-to-be, Greg takes the lucky reader on a fascinating exercise of urban exploration in China (hereinafter referred to as URBEX).

What is URBEX? Well, in this brand of traveling you’re not hitting all-inclusive resorts and mainstream monuments. However, if you are ready to hear a different story from someone who is unapologetic about his calling in life, stay here for this talk with Greg himself. Fairly sure you’ll be snagging a copy of the book right after reading this interview.

Hey, Greg. There’s more to you than meets the eye, right? It’s not only the book…
... There’s also a podcast, yeah. Chasing Bandos is available anywhere you listen to your podcasts, as well as on its own website. I started Chasing Bandos in September 2020, right after a breakup that joined forces with the epidemic to make me crave novelty. That’s when I realized that there wasn’t any podcast dedicated to URBEX. Which, I know this is cheesy, but if you subscribe and give the podcast 5 stars, contact me (WeChat ID: Gregoryy99) and you’ll get the book for only RMB225, haha.

Nothing quite like a little turmoil to spice up life. What is URBEX and how did you get into it?
I was undergoing another existential crisis of sorts in London, right in my early thirties. Long story short, I found myself looking at my life and feeling disappointed, even lost. I went through some soul searching until I clicked with this new guy at my job. We were both huge nerds and he had this Fallout poster at his office that made me suggest we go to Chernobyl together. To my surprise, he agreed, and Chernobyl ended up being my first contact with URBEX.

There I stood in this tiny city that was now covered in trees, and it was this life-changing moment for me. I no longer have any longing for regular travel. URBEX is my passion, my calling, what I want for my life. I am fully aware that this will come across as weird to some people, even more so when I say that often I feel that my interests run in the extreme opposite to the average. I don’t mean this in an arrogant way, though.

You know, it’s indeed a bold statement but we’re here for it. What’s the profile of the average URBEX explorer?
At the end of the day, URBEX folks are mainly driven by curiosity. We feel this need to know what’s going on at the other side of the fence. In fact, we want to climb it. You need to have a certain natural tendency to defy manmade authority.

You want to be responsible wherever you go, and China is no exception. Check out the laws of the land and don’t vandalize property. Know what qualifies as trespassing. Never ever damage or steal property. Still, there’s leeway for that curiosity to flourish and take you to places you’ve never been to.

So, no souvenirs from URBEX expeditions?
No, not really. I personally refuse to do it on the grounds of a code of conduct. The way I see it, I need to lead by example; it would be hypocritical otherwise. Just because the place is abandoned does not mean you’re entitled to do whatever. For this very reason, Abandoned China does not include specific locations of the places I’ve been to.

It takes one irresponsible individual for tragedy to unleash in a myriad of ways. People can get in legal trouble or badly hurt; people can damage their surroundings.

I suppose relationships within the URBEX community are very important then, particularly when it comes to your exploration buddies?
Interesting question. This is a hobby to enjoy in solitude, or at least in a very small group. I do this with a select group of friends for whom this is also a true passion. There is indeed an element of trust. My book includes some tense moments in the course of our expeditions where the outcome was indeed based in our previous mutual understanding. With new folks also comes this awareness that you are going to expose yourself to a series of potential hazards.

Has URBEX shaped or otherwise challenged your view of world history?
History has been a lifelong passion of mine, but if anything I’d say China has done this to me more than URBEX itself ever did. With URBEX, the only thing that is mind-boggling to me is the ability of humans to simultaneously create something new and then disregard our own creation.

In this sense, China feels very special to me. Here, you can see how these unique buildings and elements of yore still stand or are even still being built at certain places. I feel very lucky to be able to witness such a phenomenon.

Sometimes us foreigners come here with a certain imposing attitude that I think leads to potential misunderstanding. It’s cool to process things differently.

Has the pandemic influenced your URBEX experience in China?
I have never really let it stop me —120 locations and counting since 2020. In fact, one of the reasons I decided to write this book was that I had so many locations from my travels in China.

With regard to the travel inconveniences, the hotel restrictions are indeed challenging but the police will always be a resource in that sense, if need be. I do have a Chinese girlfriend, so she does help me a great deal. My language barriers here are also behind my writing this book. I may not ever be fluent in Chinese, but I sought this feeling of accomplishment; I wanted to have something in my hands from my time here.

On that note, how long did it take you to write the book? What were your main challenges? Also, when are we getting the next one?
It was indeed a monumental task over five months. I wanted Abandoned China to be a book of stories to accompany the reader just as much as I also wanted it to reflect my stories and memories. There was a tremendous amount of painstaking research, by far the most tedious part. It was just a ton of very technical information that I could not avoid. Furthermore, I did want to try and offer the reader information that they’d find useful, even if I am not necessarily catering to anyone.

Of course, language was also an issue. I gladly acknowledged and took all the help I needed, leading to a huge list of acknowledgements at the end of this book. Interestingly this also ties into the generosity of locals in my trips, in post-COVID China of all places. I have often been the lucky recipient of strangers’ courtesy, their selfless help and their warm hospitality. Of course, I also went through some bad experiences, but these were far outnumbered by the positive.

What can readers expect from Abandoned China?
They can expect so much, I’ll need three volumes to fit it all. Book One was all about power plants, factories, trains, ships, planes, car and bicycle graveyards. Book Two will hopefully be out by May 2023 bringing you all things hospitals, schools, hotels, cinemas and even propaganda. The cherry on top, you may ask? Book Three, devoted to abandoned theme parks.

That’s it, we want to do URBEX in Beijing! Where should total newbies like us start from?
Well, actually you’re fairly lucky. There’s so much in here, but also around; so many little villages, for instance. Otherwise, this is a tricky question. You start online and your results will depend on how much effort you are willing to invest. Because, it does takes effort to delve into it all. Try some keywords, submerge yourself in social media. Maybe find a Chinese buddy, and...