Going Through the Qiangtang No-Man Zone When the Last Wasteland Met the First Girl.

Writer Xiangjun

Big Qiangtang

Qiangtang is the biggest no-man zone in China, and it means the unknown land in the north. The average altitude of Qiangtang is over 5000 meters, and it is the plateau of plateaus and the spine of the spines of the world. Before the team of Moyan, only Dingding and Laogou went through successfully without backup in 2009 and three people of Yangliusong team two succeeded in 2010.

Moyan’s team chose the route which went in from the south and went out from the north. They started from Shuanghu, then passed Puruogangri Glacier, Duogecuo, left Tibet from Hoh Xil Mountain and entered the Sinkiang Altun no-man zone. They used 39 days and traveled thousands of kilometers.

The night and wind of Shuanghu

Moyan was wakened up by the fierce wind at two o’clock in the morning in the Shuanghu County of Tibet. She couldn’t believe that she was in Shuanghu which is the town with the highest altitude of the world and the start point of entering Qiangtang.

Three months ago when her traveling friends Hanxiao, Huli, and Sihai had decided to go through Qiangtang together, she was the first one who objected. She thought they were crazy.

The empty street and the flickering lights indicated the coming of a huge war. Moyan and her teammates counted their equipment for the last time. “Let’s go, and the worst scenario is to come back when we arrived at Puruogangri Glacier.” She gritted her teeth and encouraged herself.

The ice and sand of the Puruogangri

Moyan was not afraid to say that she wanted to go back when they first started. It was four

o’clock in the morning and dozens of degrees under zero. They were walking against the wind,

pushing bikes which were over 70 kilograms and climbing the slope which was over 5000 meters

in the dark. She was lacking oxygen and wanted to open her chest and pull her lungs out to

breath. She nearly reached her limits for the first time, and she couldn’t imagine the road which would be more difficult.

She struggled and walked 9 kilometers of night road. Her teammate yelled, “look” in the front.

She looked up and saw the red sun chasing the moon and rising from the horizon. It lighted the sky up lighted the wasteland up and lighted them up.

Walking toward the Puruogangri Glacier which is the third ice field beside the south and

north poles was like walking toward a super fan. The huge wind blew her off her feet with her

bike. The sudden storm forced them to hide in the tent. And when they walked on the

desertification river bed, they sunk in the sand a little bit. Pushing the bikes was like pushing

bikes with ten breaks. They had to take a breath after nearly 20 meters.

Time after times lying in the tent without the ability to move in the night on the wasteland

and hearing the sound of tent waving because of the fierce wind. She couldn’t move her arms

and didn’t know where her road leads were. But when she cleared the one-meter deep snow

around her tent in the morning and looked at the wasteland, she thought why not try a little bit more.

The wind woke her stubborn heart

They finally entered desert from the glacier. But a storm let them see that there is a natural power can destroy the world.

The worst of all, Moyan’s three strong teammates’ condition were worse one than the other. She was the only female in the team, and there was no doubt that her physical power was the weakest. But her softness tied the three muscular men together. No matter how strong the wind was, she must not fall. That was how to lead this falling team move forward. Thinking of that, she didn’t know where was this strength came from, and she walked to the front of the team. Under their feet was the easy sinking sand, and in front of them was gravels flying like bullets. She was pushing her bike which was heavy and difficult to push like a cow in front of the team until they reached the top of the slope.

The crises of food

Walking on the bare wasteland, they were not only facing the awful condition, but they were also facing the impasses without backup. The charcoal ash blocked the only two oil furnaces they bought.

When they were nearly hopeless, a steel wire which was cut from the bike cleared the furnace. The fire was lightened up again. It was the light of life in their eyes.

A terrifying condition was lacking food. When they looked for the legendary herdsmen with hope and failed every time, they were shadowed by the hopeless of lacking food.

Moyan couldn’t remember clearly how long since she had a proper meal. They ate zanba as breakfast and supper and ate nuts as lunch. She felt the weakness and short breath. She could barely push her bike. As a person who loves food, she could only look through her phone to satisfy her hunger and then curse herself for looking for torture, but she continued her journey.

The 17th day, they reached half of the journey. They had to calculate carefully because they didn’t leave much food. There were 20 more days ahead of them. The food might be enough, might not. The passive feeling influenced everyone. Other problems could be solved; only food couldn’t.

The night of hopelessness, they recorded the retreat video which was full of sadness. Muoyan who had wanted to retreat the whole time became the most unwilling person. Nearly one o’clock in the morning, she opened the only light in the dark plain and called her three teammates to her tent. Her voice had never been so calm, “ one last time, retreat or we try a little bit more; raise your hand if you agree to retreat.” They were silent; no one raised their hands which were damaged by the wind and sand.

The disappearance of teammate

They thought they passed all the danger; the worst thing happened the next day after they had decided to move forward. Their teammate Hanxiao disappeared in the snowstorm.

The plain was sunny the first moment, the next moment fog appeared, and then snowstorm started. Xiaohan who was in the front disappeared in the plain covered by snow, and the track of the bike was erased by the snow immediately. They tried to chase him and yelled his name time after time. But there was no response.

This is the wasteland which voice is a waste, this the deepest part of Qiangtang where people are like ants which would be diminished in a blink. She was covered by a chill she had never felt before.

Those were her most vicious days; she walked in the front to make a path. She had to chase her teammate back. She chased the black shadow on the slope, but it turned out to be a black bear, then she ran for her life. She passed a mountain which looked like Buddha, so she put her palms together and prayed for the Buddha’s blessing. She and her teammates waited beside the frozen Wuquan River days after days anxiously. Finally like a miracle, Xiaohan who rode in the snowy plain for seven days alone appeared.

She remembers that she staggered to him, and then beat him. She smiled then cried. It was like seeing someone after he or she died. That was the first time she felt so close to the death.

A woman after all

Walking in the no-man zone, Moyan almost forgot that she is a woman. But she is a woman, after all, she was troubled by menstrual period, and physical power was her weakness.

She couldn’t forget the deep and hurry river of the Yak Valley. It was difficult for them to pass already. Her three teammates who passed turned back. One of them helped her to push the bike, one person searched the road under water, and the other carried her on his back. They passed the river three times for her. She couldn’t forget that there was a slope, her friends helped her to push her bike up and breathed heavily.

Moyan is stubborn, she insisted on pushing her bike times after times. She gritted her teeth and tried her best to chase her teammates. Finally, she couldn’t insist anymore when her waist was hurting; she felt that she was a sand clock, the more she tried, the weaker she became. She felt anxious, angry and despair one after another. At last, she crashed. She had always been gentle, but she yelled. She forced her teammates to go ahead tomorrow and left her alone. She didn’t want to encumber them. She cried while saying.

The deadly water

They didn’t find any water resource in two days. They looked for the deserted water bottle left by cross-country vehicle teams and hoped that there were waters in it, one sip would do. They were under the blazing sun and thirsty. Water, deadly water.

Maybe Qiangtang finally showed some mercy. When Moyan was too thirsty to walk, dust rose from the horizon like a mirage. “See, cars!” They were like the drowning person reached a life-saving straw, they yelled and chased the car. They were afraid that the car would be gone if they were slow.

It was the first time Moyan saw other people in sixteen days. They didn’t only get water; they got fresh food such as apple. Apple! That was the best and the most unforgettable taste she had never taste. That was the taste of life.

The unforgettable wasteland

They tasted every taste of Qiangtang and overcame many difficulties. They finally walked out this wasteland which they loved and hated at the 39th days. Moyan is the first Chinese woman who crossed Qiangtang without backup. She was praised by people of outdoor activity and won the 2015 China Outdoor Golden Rhino Breakthrough Award.