“Bikini hiker” Wu Jih-yun, also known as “G,” tragically died while solo-climbing the southern section of the Central Mountain Range. She reportedly became unable to move her lower body due to an injury, could not set up a tent to shelter from wind and rain, and eventually succumbed to hypothermia. The recovery of Wu’s body faced multiple setbacks. This morning, an Air Force helicopter made its fourth attempt and landed at Tongfu Junior High School at 9:09 AM. Two or three mountain friends waiting on the field excitedly shouted, “Gigi is home!”
Wu Jih-yun, known in the mountaineering community as the “bikini girl” or “G,” recently lost her life during a solo climb on the southern section of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range. She is believed to have been unable to move her lower body due to an injury, preventing her from setting up a tent to protect herself from wind and rain, which led to hypothermia. Wu’s body was eventually recovered after several difficulties. This morning, an Air Force helicopter made its fourth flight and landed at Tongfu Junior High School at 9:09 AM. A couple of mountain climbers waiting on the field emotionally shouted, “Gigi is home!”
Writer Lung Ying-tai used over 1,200 words on Facebook to express her thoughts on the incident. She believes that only by facing nature’s harshness, cruelty, and ruggedness can one build a strong physique and achieve true spiritual freedom. She said that Wu Jih-yun’s pursuit of spiritual freedom moved her. “She spent over a hundred days a year heading toward the peaks of mountains. What a tremendous courage supported a woman carrying her backpack alone into the most difficult and lonely depths of the forests?”
Regarding the criticism of Wu Jih-yun wearing a bikini, Lung Ying-tai disagreed. She argued that even if Wu had “taken off all her clothes and shown you the summit of the mountain or the inside of the clouds, so what? At the summit, she only highlighted, in her own way, your own physical laziness, narrow vision, and mental constraints.” She also stated that in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwan prides itself on political liberalization, but in reality, its vision and mindset are still far from being truly liberated.
Lung Ying-tai lamented, “Wu Jih-yun has died, yet many who stay home playing video games mock her mistakes.” This made her wonder: “Isn’t her persistent training of her physique in an age filled with flashy visuals and virtual trends exactly the kind of ‘physical education’ a modern society should be teaching the next generation? Isn’t her fearless journey through ice, frost, snow, and rain, taking on risks and challenges, exactly the kind of ‘intellectual education’ an open society should pass on to children? Isn’t her endurance of loneliness and her bold solo journey across thousands of mountains and rivers exactly the kind of ‘moral education’ a culturally mature society should instill in the next generation?”
Through society’s judgment of Wu Jih-yun’s death, Lung Ying-tai sharply pointed out that this reflects Taiwan as a society with closed minds. “Can we dare to imagine a Taiwan with strong physiques, broad visions, courage to take risks and challenges, and one that truly embraces mountains and seas?”