On April 3, the National Hiking Day, organized by the Beijing Daily Hiking Sports Center and sponsored by RAX, acclaimed as “China’s first micro-outdoor brand,” was vigorously held in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhaoxing, Chengdu, Changchun, and Dalian. As the sixth installment of the event and falling during the Qingming holiday, it attracted a total of 1,200 participants across various regions, marking another milestone for National Hiking Day.
The concept of National Hiking Day emerged within the context of China’s rapid urbanization — in today’s society, more and more people are living under high pressure and fast-paced conditions. Fragmented leisure time has made traditional “planned” travel increasingly incompatible with the rhythms of modern life, where schedules often yield to work demands while physical health continues to decline. To address this, and to promote hiking as a national fitness activity, the Beijing Daily Hiking Sports Center partnered with “China’s first micro-outdoor brand” RAX to usher in the era of “mass sports.” With concrete actions, they issued a hiking initiative to citizens nationwide — adopting the slogan “Hike for ten years, stay healthy together” for the sixth National Hiking Day, and calling for the establishment of the second Saturday of April each year as "China Hiking Day." The initiative aims to advocate a healthy and green lifestyle, encourage mass fitness, and promote environmental protection.
The enthusiastic turnout indeed demonstrated citizens’ recognition of the event’s philosophy and their desire to get outdoors. In Beijing alone, 800 participants joined, bringing the national total to 1,200. “Actually, both short trips and long journeys are about relaxing the mind. This event made me realize that hiking can also be a journey for the soul — that’s the true essence of travel,” said one participant.
RAX stated: “‘Live light’ is our brand philosophy. From the very beginning of our brand development, we deeply understood that modern urbanites yearn for nature and a lighter way of living (live light). That’s how ‘light travel and micro-outdoor activities’ came to be — a healthy lifestyle that RAX has always advocated. Hiking is one of the most common forms of micro-outdoor activity. Partnering with the Beijing Daily Hiking Sports Center to launch the sixth National Hiking Day is RAX’s concrete action to encourage citizens across the country to hike, promoting fitness, environmental sustainability, and advocating a light and natural way of life.”