Life-and-death Wasteland：Travel Across Qiangtang by Himself in 52 Days for the First Time
By: Xiangjun
Set off after a year
April 2nd, 2016, a person with a shovel was digging something for an hour under sunset at Qiangtang. There was a bicycle which was weighted 80 kilograms behind him. What was he looking for alone five days after entering this mysterious wasteland?
After shaking off the dust on the sealing bag, the air bottles which were covered for 360 days showed up one by one. His determination which was as firm as the stone showed up along with the air bottles.
The harsh Qiangtang
After preparing for a year and a half, Shitou and his best friend Dalin entered Qiangtang together in March 2015. The wasteland was as vast as his imagination. They camped under the sunset at the wasteland, and the bright setting sun shone on the endless grass. The sky connected to the ground, and they were all yellow which was just like the glittering light of the waves.
The vastness fascinated them but also made them feel small. Could they travel across this vast wasteland when they were so small?
They suddenly felt lost, and they used all their energy every day, only wishing they could walk further every day. The outcome was that they were tired the first day and more tired the second day. On the fifth day, their bodies finally started to give warnings because their bodies had not adapted the coldness and height and overdrew due to advance rashly.
They started to cough unstoppably and they could not sleep. They still went further bearing the cough. Coughed for another night. Their chest began to hurt due to coughs, and their heart which was as firm as the stone started to shake. There was no help in the front or back in this endless wasteland, and they started to have health problem only five days after setting off. How could they face the unknown challenges for the next nearly 70 days?
On the sixth night, the snow and wind were howling outside the tent, and both of them were speechless inside. There was only the sound of coughing. Both of them knew from the inside that no matter how unwilling they were, they had to retreat.
From the ocean’s vastness to the wasteland’s
Setting off with confidence and retreat right after start, Shitou was unwilling. One long yet short year had passed, and all he could think about was Qiangtang. Although his friend had given up, he was determined, and he must reenter the wasteland.
Learning from the last time, he reduced his equipment, exercised his body and most important of all, he trained his mind. Because this time, he would face the vastness of the wasteland by himself.
At the South China Sea during the spring of 2016, Shitou sat on the deck along in the dark for one or two hours after all the mariner turned off the light and fell asleep.
This was his exclusive psychological simulation training. One night after one night, he hypothesized himself sitting in the endless darkness alone. When he could face the deep sea in the night calmly, Shitou knew it was time to land and set off again.
The most difficult first step
The most difficult thing about facing the wasteland alone was taking the first step. Shitou pushed his bicycle which was weighted 90 kilograms due to the supply was all on it at the Jieshandaban where was the west border of Tibet. On 29th March, he finally took his first step.
He finally arrived where he buried the air bottles last year after five days. The air bottles which were deeply buried experienced the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of wasteland, but it was as new as last year which was just like the Shitou’s determination. At that moment, his persistent heart was back too.
After his determination was back, another horrible thing happened that night when he was camping. The lake which he got water from last year had disappeared. He felt lost at that moment while looking at the lake basin which was 50 meters long.
The lakes along the way were all dry, at the last stop, a farmer reminded him that that year was drought and only snowed twice so far. All the problem they had started to come back and his heart was sinking. He could conquer any other obstacles except water. His plan was nearly 70 day and walk 1400 kilometers long. Even though he would not find water for a couple of days only, the outcome was unimaginable.
The road was hard to walk, and the wind helped.
The terror of lacking water was overcome, and the determination of moving forward triumphed everything. The price was to carry nearly 20 liters of water every day.
The road of Qiangtang was hard, and he could rarely ride bikes. He had to push the bike most of the time. With one more burden, the resistance was stronger. He anticipated that his carry limit was 110 kilograms and he reduced food because of that. But now he had to push the bike which was as heavy as his limitation to keep hydrated.
The wasteland was filled with sandstone, and he had to catch a breath after barely a hundred meters. When he was walking on sand, it felt like there were ten more brakes on the bike and he could only walk one kilometer within an hour. He was alone on this vast wasteland while pushing a heavy bike that was weighted 110 kilograms with his head buried. He took a step after another and insisted endlessly.
The most difficult part was uphills, He climbed Hongshandaban which was over 5200 meters above sea level. The air was thin, and the endless steep slopes almost crushed him. He had to stop and catch breathes every three steps. He kept telling himself that he was not afraid of hardship and slowness, he could not give up and had to push on. After the most difficult uphill, a surprise arrived. During downhills, he tried to open the homemade umbrella sail at the end of the bike, and the howling wind pushed him and bike forward fast. He moved over 30 kilometers in a day like a wild horse.
The people at no man’s zone
He moved forward while looking for water and arrived Yang Lake at the 17th day which means he already finished one-third of this trip.
He was one week earlier than his plan, Shitou was happy and delighted. He gave up calculate how many foods to spare and buried his last couple packs of cigarettes to carry more waters. He could not carry any more weight.
At Yang Lake region, Shitou finally met the only people in the deserted wasteland. Dozens of stakes stood alone in the wind along the road. According to research, those were the young soldier who sacrificed their lives to map Qiangtang at the 70s.
He was a soldier, he also came from Chengdu military command, and he shared the same passion which was to sacrifice for our country. But they stayed in this wasteland forever where their family could never arrive here and see them one last time.
Moving with the wolf.
He headed deeper in Qiangtang after he past Yang Lake. The wasteland finally showed its beauty to the brave intruder.
More and more wild animals came to sight while he was pushing the bicycle forward with difficulties. There was an open basin and over hundreds Tibetan antelopes within it. The antelopes were vivid and headed west. Shitou felt like that he finally arrived the wonderland after all the obstacles.
The more the herbivore, the more the carnivore. The wild wolves showed up as same as the ghost, observed and followed him. But without a hundred percent win rate, the wild wolves would not attack. One is more likely to attack when one is nervous. So every time he met wolves, it was a contest of aura. Therefore he had to stay calm.
Although he was calm, there still were moments which were terrifying among the 17 times he met wolves. One time he was obsessed with taking pictures of the Tibetan antelopes, then a black shadow jumped out of the stones. It was a wolf. Shitou was startled.
The most unpredictable thing was that the wolf was running toward him like 100-meter dash. When there were only 30 meters away from each other, the wolf suddenly changes direction and headed toward the antelopes. Another wild wolf jumped out and outflanked the antelopes.
Within just a short few dozens of seconds, two wolves chased the antelopes away and disappeared in the hill like the cyclone. Shitou was left stunned. The war between nature creatures ended before he could react.
Another more terrible event happened at 3 a.m. on the 30th day of his trip. He heard the sound of dragging outside his tent and Shitou shouted immediately. He was awake instantly and throw some firecrackers out. He yelled again and picked up his blade. He opened his tent and saw his pack was towed 10 meters away by the wolf in the night.
He was not afraid of wolves, but sneak attack like this in the middle of the night was terrifying. Shitou opened alarm and grabbed the folding hacking knife tightly all night. He was still covered in cold sweat. He had a 1.5-meter long hacking knife, and he believed that he could get out safely if there were only one or two wolves. But if there were more wolves, it would be hard to say what would happen.
Crossing the north-south line.
Camping at Duogerrencuoqiangcuo in the night, Shitou felt a little bit nervous all of sudden because he stood on another starting point. In the history of traveling across Qiangtang, no one had arrived here until now. The way forward would be more unpredictable. Every step he made would be the first step for humankind.
But fate started to challenge him at this moment. It began to snow heavily, and the wind was howling which made the tent wet and cold because there was snow in the tent. The road near the end had no tracks, and the snow covered the mountains. Shitou had to climb over mountain according to his instinct.
Looking back at Yingchun Pass
He arrived Yingchun Pass in the wind and snow. He stood on the border between Tibet and Qinghai on the afternoon of the 46th day. He Looked back, the wasteland was like the ocean, and it was still mysterious, cold and even lethal.
Shitou could not believe that the travel across there by himself. He could feel the taste of life with every breath, and he was closer to the finish point with every step he took. His wife was already waiting for him at the finish point.
But one could not let off one’s guard not until the last minute. On the 48th day, he was so close to the finish point. But when he looked back, his blood rushed to his brain because he saw five wolves were standing 50 meters away and staring at him.
He had no time to think, he turned around and pulled out the hacking knife instinctively. He could stay calm if there were only one or two wolves, but no one could escape from five wolves.
When he turned back, two wolves ran towards the mountain. After he turned around to put his hacking knife together, the rest three wolves ran away too. All he could do was running fast while pushing the bike with the hacking knife in his hand and be thankful for the five wolves to spare his life.
Back to life.
After the last shocking event, he was finally near the end. On the morning of the 50th day, a green thing afar started to move, and it turned out to be a motorcade. He left the last shepherd residence place on the 4th day, and he finally saw live people after 46 days. He chased after the cars, but the cars were long gone, yet what remained was the smell of life.
Was he finally about to leave the wasteland? How came the thing he thought that he could not finish, finished like this?
He did not feel the joy that he thought he would feel. He only felt unbelievable in the last three day. His heart was still walking in the wasteland, but his body was heading towards people
In the night of May 19th, he took a night bus from Yanshiping, Tibet to meet his wife at Taermu. He finally believed that he finished traveling across the lethal Qiangtang until his feet away from the ground and saw himself who was covered in stubble and unrecognizable due to thinness in the reflection of the car’s window.
The wasteland which accompanied him for 52 days faded away in the dark, and he is alive.
At the end of September, Shitou sat alone on the deck after all the crews turned off the light and went to sleep in the South China Sea. He would land soon, but this time, it was not psychological training anymore, it was a way of remembering.
In front of him was the endless ocean, yet his heart was filled with the wind sound of Qiangtang. This was the longest and the most difficult trip, and he would never forget. The most memorable thing was the tombstones of the soldier. They went in with different aims, he left there alive, and they remained there forever. He was a passenger, but they became a part of the wasteland.
They were alone and heroic just like the boundless deep ocean in the dark which seemed does not belong to the human. But the only glorious thing is humankind.
