He Dongsheng and his father.
For many citizens, a child’s 16th birthday is a significant milestone. Many parents choose to celebrate the occasion by hosting a banquet at a hotel, throwing a lively party to mark their child’s coming of age. However, Mr. He, who lives in Gailanxi, Jiangbei District, doesn’t see it that way. He thinks hosting a banquet is extravagant, so he took his 16-year-old son on a 220-kilometer bike ride as the boy’s coming-of-age ceremony.
Planning a Coming-of-Age Ceremony
A Banquet Would Cost 15,000 Yuan
He Dongsheng is a first-year high school student at Zishui Middle School in Jiangbei District, Class 1. Born on February 4, 1998, February 4 of this year marked his 16th birthday. At the end of 2013, his parents began considering holding a 16th birthday banquet for him, inviting relatives and friends to celebrate as a form of coming-of-age ceremony, letting Dongsheng know he was now an adult.
So, the family sat down to do the math, and the results were startling—holding a birthday banquet is really expensive. Yesterday, Dongsheng’s father, Mr. He, showed Chongqing Evening News reporters the cost breakdown for a banquet with eight tables of guests.
First, there’s the cost of the banquet itself. The minimum standard for one table of food is around 800 yuan, a decent spread costs about 1,000 yuan, and more luxurious options can go up to 1,200 yuan or even higher. Using the mid-range option of 1,000 yuan per table, the banquet would cost 8,000 yuan; then there’s the cost of alcohol and cigarettes, calculated at two packs of Tienzi cigarettes and two bottles of liquor per table, adding up to about 1,600 yuan; plus cake, kids singing karaoke, adults playing mahjong at the teahouse… the total comes to around 15,000 yuan.
“And relatives and friends will also give red envelopes, which makes it even more embarrassing,” Dongsheng’s father said. “In recent years, I’ve also attended coming-of-age banquets for friends’ children, where the food goes uneaten and it’s a huge waste. The cake usually isn’t eaten much either and gets thrown away.”
In the end, the family unanimously decided not to hold the 16th birthday banquet. He Dongsheng said, “Some classmates have birthday banquets, but it’s just eating and drinking for a day—it doesn’t mean much. I didn’t really want to hold one anyway.”
From Jiangbei to Linshui
Cycling 220 km in 3 Days
Since they weren’t holding a banquet, they still wanted to have a coming-of-age ceremony. During the Spring Festival, Dongsheng’s father racked his brains and finally came up with an idea—letting his son experience a long-distance bike ride.
When the father proposed this idea, Dongsheng was a bit hesitant. He rarely traveled far, was timid, and not very physically fit, fearing he wouldn’t be able to stick with it. “It would be really embarrassing,” Dongsheng said.
But his father told him, “Son, becoming an adult is all about breaking out of your cocoon and becoming a butterfly. It’s about challenging yourself, understanding the lessons of life through perseverance—that’s what it means to become an adult.”
Dongsheng tacitly agreed to his father’s suggestion. On February 3, the father and son went to the supermarket and bought two bottles each of mineral water, eight-treasure congee, and Red Bull. At 7:30 a.m. on February 4, they shouldered their backpacks and set off on time. It was just getting light, and the temperature was pleasant. Dongsheng, who had been quite hesitant, said he actually felt a little thrill of excitement. “Sixteen years old starts here,” Dongsheng said. “I’m going to persevere.”
The father and son’s cycling mission was to start from Jiangbei, take the Airport Road onto National Highway 210, pass through Muer Town, Longxing Town, Cizhu Town, and other places, and finally reach Linshui County in Sichuan, a one-way distance of about 110 km. After resting for a day in Linshui, they retraced their steps back, covering a round-trip distance of 220 km in a total of 3 days. Because they stayed at a relative’s house in Linshui, the three-day expenses totaled just 150 yuan. Although he didn’t even get a birthday cake, Dongsheng was still very happy: “This experience taught me a lot of things, far more valuable than a birthday banquet or a birthday cake.”
The Hard Work Paid Off
The Child Learned Many Lessons
In just three short days, Dongsheng said he experienced things he never would have at school and gained insights into life philosophies he wouldn’t have encountered in daily life.
Dongsheng is usually introverted and lacks confidence. The stretch from Cizhu to Linshui is over 10 km of mountainous road, with many ups and downs. Whenever he saw particularly steep slopes, he would get off and push his bike, afraid of falling. Watching his son’s fearful expression, Dongsheng’s father felt heartbroken but still set a requirement: “I won’t get off the bike, and you’re not allowed to either. Don’t tell yourself ‘I can’t do it’—if you do, you never will.”
After a bumpy ride, the father and son finally arrived safely in Linshui County at 9:30 p.m. on February 4. “Looking back, it wasn’t actually that scary,” Dongsheng said.
Dongsheng usually enjoys watching basketball but rarely plays, and engages in even fewer other sports. The most painful part of the ride for him was sore thighs. “By the time we reached Longxing Town, the boy was drenched in sweat, couldn’t pedal anymore, and when asked, said his thighs were sore and he couldn’t ride,” Dongsheng’s father said.
But Dongsheng had no intention of giving up. “Since we’ve started, we might as well keep going. That’s also the meaning of a coming-of-age ceremony,” Dongsheng said. He asked for a half-hour break, then continued on until reaching their destination. “No rain, no rainbow. This kind of coming-of-age ceremony is much more meaningful than a birthday banquet full of eating and playing,” Dongsheng said.