In May 2011, he completed China's first solo, unsupported canoe crossing of the Qiongzhou Strait
In 2011, he completed China's first canoe crossing of the Bohai Strait (130 km)
In 2012, he completed China's first solo canoe circumnavigation of Hainan Island (900 km)
In 2013, he completed China's first interprovincial sea canoe crossing (Shenzhen, Guangdong – Haikou, Hainan, 600 km)
In January 2014, he completed the world's first cross-border canoe crossing between Thailand and Cambodia (900 km)
In May 2014, he completed China's first full-length solo canoe descent of the Pearl River (2,400 km)
On December 20, 2015, he began the world's first full-length solo canoe descent of the Yellow River (5,490 km)
Here is Shamess’s own account:
After landing, volunteers from the Yellow River Eco-Tourism Area helped carry the rubber boat ashore. The boss, Mr. Zhang Shan, warmly served us two bowls of steaming fresh fish soup. It was delicious and warming—drinking it made my whole body feel cozy. Hmm, sometimes the world on land isn’t so bad after all.
The media friends who had waited a long time in the cold wind,
almost all asked the same question:What was the most unforgettable thing about the Yellow River for you?
I actually stammered and couldn’t come up with an answer… There were just too many unforgettable things..
The Tibetans and Muslims at the source of the Yellow River, whose culture is so different from ours;
The children who lost their lives to echinococcosis;
The school teachers who competed with temples for custody of children;
The ecological migrants displaced by grassland desertification;
The herders forced to relocate due to desert pollution;
The people frantically digging for caterpillar fungus;
The bodies floating in the Yellow River;
The villagers drinking heavily polluted water from the Yellow River;
The Yellow River locals who helped us;
The friends who supported us from behind the scenes…..
They are simply not something that can be explained in just a few words.