ONE wonders, assuming it’s practical, how long it would take a human to walk from Jamaica to China and back.

For if flying in the fast lanes of the skies can be such a physically-draining and mentally-sapping experience, what would walking some 14,000 miles back and forth have on a mere man?

If it can be done, I wouldn’t want to be that man.

A local bunch of Reggae Boyz and their handlers had a taste of what trans-continental travelling is all about on their recent sojourn to the flagship nation of the Far East, China.

They were there for an international friendly match on Wednesday against the hosts — an encounter they lost 0-1.

Though praise has come from many quarters for their “gutsy” performance in the face of defeat, it wouldn’t be out of turn to suggest that they were bound to lose even before a ball was kicked.

For, according to modern medicine, which was reiterated by team doctor Carlton Fraser, there was no way the Boyz would have recovered in time to give optimum performance during the match.

Nine players who flew out of Kingston arrived three days before the match, five others 24 hours before and one, team leader Shavar Thomas, landed on the very day of the game.

Losing by only one goal and given their spirited output, the Boyz were deemed to have defied the very foundation of related science.

“It was about guts, willpower and determination more than anything else,” was the perhaps unqualified, but poignant summation of Thomas at game’s end.

So let’s start the journey which started on August 5 and ended on Friday that took our football team to and back from China, the world’s most populated country with an astounding 1.3 billion inhabitants.

For the local players and nine team officials, including myself, the gruelling trip started with a one-and-half hour flight on American Airlines flight 1376 from Kingston to Miami. After a three-hour layover, they then continued on AA 0231 for a five-hour haul to Los Angeles, where they arrived without incident.

After landing and clearing immigration and customs, they quickly boarded a hotel shuttle to the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel, which was a cheerful five-minute ride.

The group promptly settled into their quarters, as manager Roy Simpson ordered dinner from a nearby Jamaican restaurant, which was delivered to the rooms. The fare included favourites jerk and fried chicken. I believe there was fish as well.

The food was swallowed in record time by hungry men — unwittingly starved by American Airlines, which sells its food to passenger on domestic and short international hops. How we missed Air Jamaica then.

We woke the following morning to a truly Jamaican breakfast of ‘boiled foods’ with liver and callaloo. Stomachs fortified, we were ready for the torturous 13-hour ride that awaited us.

After a short delay at LA, we were on board the sprawling United Airways Boeing 777 jumbo jet, and before long, we were in the skies and screaming over the Pacific Ocean headed for Shanghai.

After exhausting the airplane’s movie and music offerings, and dropping in and out of sleep more times than I care to count, China’s most populated city Shanghai welcomed us.

Uncertain of what awaited us on the outside where few spoke our language and bearing in mind that we are in a communist state, we breathed a collective sigh of relief when we were greeted by an efficient David Fu, who is in the employ of the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

He ushered a weary bunch to purchase tickets to our final destinationhe Hongui Jinling Grand Hotel.

Pre-checked and our keys handed to us on arrival at Heifi area airport, we went straight to dinner, which was essentially Chinese delicacy with a western touch. I was one of the last to leave the restaurant, not that I was in the mood to eat more than the other man, but that I was transfixed to the chair by sheer exhaustion. That was midnight (11:00 am in Jamaica). With eyes shutting down, I set about writing a story. After that, straight to bed.

Being in this great country was like living a dream, until the reality of making the journey back home struck like a demolition hammer.

Deflated by the prospect of a dreary return ride home, we reluctantly boarded the team bus after bidding farewell to hotel staff, who went above and beyond the call of duty to make our stay comfortable.

We rode about 45 minutes to the Hefei train station for a 400-mile trip to Shanghai where we were scheduled to make our air connection to Los Angeles.

After struggling with baggage, the local-based players were obviously not amused and grumbled at the prospect of riding some old train. But when our train pulled up, their demeanor instantly changed.

It was a modern high-speed bullet train. Its interior was comfortable with seating designed similarly to those in passenger aircraft.

The ride was a literal eye-opener. It was amazing how cameos of Chinese culture and life zipped by. We passed farmers working their rice paddies, rustic dwellings; rolling mountains; coal and steel mining operations; brackish rivers, including the famous Changjiang/Yangtze river; ancient-looking towns and modern cities with intriguing architecture reaching for China’s smog-blanketed skyline.

That’s China in a flash.

After stops in the old Chinese capital of Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Danyang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Wuxixingu, Suzhou and Kunshananan, three hours later we arrived at the Shanghai Train Station. We then boarded a small bus that took us safely to the Shanghai/Pudong International Airport after a one-and-half hour ride through the heart of the city.

After a near two-hour delay caused by the late arrival of the aircraft from Los Angeles, we were on United Airlines flight 878 for the 12-hour haul to California.

We arrived in Los Angeles in time for our 11:30 pm Thursday (1:30 am Friday) connection to Miami, which was an additional four-hour-and-40-minute hop across the country.

Once in Miami, the smell of Jamaica becomes more intense — only one-and-half hours to go. Believe me, it was the longest 90 minutes of my life. Finally, home Jamaica.

Credit, though, must go to the players for enduring such a trip, yet they were able to squeeze so much positive out of it.

“It was fun being with my teammates, and it was a good experience as we look to Brazil 2014, and I am sure we will be faced with similar situations,” said Harbour View midfielder Richard Edwards

Portmore United defender Adrian Reid, said: “It was a great trip from an experience point of view… what was good was that the players didn’t complain and there was togetherness.”

Waterhouse defender Keneil Moodie thinks the experience has tightened the bonds among the players. “This experience has helped us to stick together more and working as a team,” he said.

Portmore winger, Eric Vernan, relished the train ride most of all saying, “driving on the train was also a good experience, which gave us the chance to see different parts of the country, and that was good”.

“It is something that we have to get accustomed to because as players we have to travel around the world,” noted Boys’ Town defender, Xavian Virgo.

Colourful Waterhouse goalkeeper Richard McCallum, the only player coach Theodore Whitmore did not need for the game, said the visit to China was an education for him. “The whole experience of being in China and getting a chance to see how they live, and how excited they were when they saw us when we went out, was svery interesting to me,” he said.

The overseas-based players, who play in the USA and Scandinavia, will have their own tales to tell as their flight plans routed them away from ours.

Oh, what a ride!