A lonely stray dog from the heart of China has won thousands of fans – and a new life – after following a cross-country bike race for 24 days.
The China Daily reports that Zhang Heng, 22, took up a grueling, mountainous bike race as a graduation trip to see if he could make it alone.
On a stop in Sichuan province, he encountered a ratty white dog that looked hungry.
"She was lying, tired, on the street," Heng told reporters. "So we fed her, and then she followed our team."
The dog stayed by his team's side night and day, travelling 2,000 kilometres to the race's finish Saturday at the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
