After walking over 150 kilometers along the Beijing-Chengde Expressway and enduring four and a half days of trekking, Huang Yale finally reached his destination. At that moment, he burst into tears. Hiking from Beijing to Chengde, this post-90s youngster finally accomplished an experience to temper his will and gained an extraordinary life memory.
Huang Yale is a native of Beijing and a junior at Wuhan University. Recently, he came up with the idea of challenging himself and decided to hike from Beijing to Chengde on foot.
After doing some research, first-time hiker Huang Yale chose to start from Lutong Village in Beijing and walk along the small villages beside the Beijing-Chengde Expressway.
On the morning of August 7, Huang Yale set off on his hiking journey with four packs of compressed biscuits, a camera, a compass, medicine, and 300 yuan in reserve. For self-defense, he also brought along a knife.
He walked about eight hours each day, ate only one pack of compressed biscuits per meal, and slept under bridges or in warehouses. Waking up in the middle of the night, the howling wind sounded extremely terrifying.
For the first two days, Huang Yale was exceptionally excited, taking photos of the scenery as he walked. By the morning of the third day, his physical strength was noticeably waning, so he bought himself a bucket of beef-flavored instant noodles. “It was really, really, really delicious — I even finished the broth.”
On the evening of the third day, three men with heavy accents followed him and refused to leave. In the desolate wilderness with no one around, Huang Yale kept a tight grip on the knife he was carrying. It wasn’t until 20 minutes later, when they entered a village and the three men disappeared, that the sweat finally dried on his palm, which had been clutching the knife tightly.
On August 11, physically exhausted, he finally arrived in Chengde, and at that moment, he couldn’t help but burst into tears.
Three days after returning to Beijing, the reporter met with Huang Yale. During their conversation, he didn’t talk much about the “hardships” of the hike — a smile seemed to accompany the entire interview.
According to him, his original intention was to gain a unique life experience. Having lived in the city for a long time, he wanted to endure some hardship, temper his will, and appreciate how hard-earned life is. This ascetic-like experience brought him great satisfaction. “I feel stronger inside.”
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