Xinhua News Agency, Lhasa, Oct. 9 (Reporters Wang Yunjia & Huang Xing) — The 11th Tibet Mountaineering Conference has recently come to an end. A total of 21 mountaineers in two groups successfully reached the summit of Qizhi Peak, which stands at an altitude of 6,206 meters. However, some participants had to withdraw early due to severe altitude sickness and obvious physical discomfort. Yet, whether they reached the summit or not, all the mountaineers gained something unique through their dialogue with the snow-capped mountains: the tempering of willpower, a spiritual cleansing, the pursuit of dreams, and genuine camaraderie...
Li Haifeng, a mountaineer from Dalian, attempted his first mountain climb this year. Upon arriving at the advance camp at an altitude of 5,200 meters, he was severely troubled by altitude sickness — splitting headaches, nausea, and insomnia. “It really felt like I came here to suffer,” he said. But he was unwilling to give up easily. With normal body temperature and excellent readings for blood oxygen, blood pressure, and pulse compared to others in his group, the accompanying doctor and coach decided after careful consideration to let him continue climbing.
On the night before the final push to the summit, Li still felt nauseous and miserable. Despite everyone’s best efforts to persuade him to eat, he sat with his head hung low, indifferent. That’s when an experienced mountaineer nicknamed “Big Liu,” who was nearby, had had enough and placed a bowl of congee right in front of him: “If you can throw this up today, consider your mission accomplished!” Left with no choice, Li forced himself to drink the congee. But Big Liu wasn’t done — he insisted he drink another bowl. To everyone’s surprise, not only did Li keep it down, but his various discomforts also significantly lessened.
In the end, Li successfully reached the summit. At that moment, he didn’t have much energy for excited celebrations and simply plopped down on the snow in the freezing cold. “Climbing was physically tough, but now my heart feels great!” he told reporters after descending. The tempering of willpower was a key takeaway from this climb: “Sometimes you just need to grit your teeth and push yourself. Like that night, if I hadn’t drunk those two bowls of congee, I might not have had the stamina to take on the summit later!”
“Big Liu” is Liu Fuyong, also from Dalian. Born in 1960, he is tall and sturdy, and earned the nickname “Big Liu” in the mountaineering community for his easygoing personality and sincerity. Liu got into mountaineering in 1999 and hasn’t looked back since. He summited Mount Everest twice, in 2003 and 2007, achieving his dream of reaching the “roof of the world” on the second attempt. Over the
“The sun rises every day, yet no two sunrises are ever the same.” Reflecting on this summit attempt, Liu Fuyong appeared remarkably composed: “The mountain is a very quiet environment. Climbing allows one to calm the mind and reflect on many things. Many people ask me, ‘After climbing for so many years and enduring so much hardship, what have you gained in the end?’ My answer is, I’ve gained ‘serenity and perseverance.’”
Besides Everest, Liu Fuyong has also summited peaks such as Muztagh Ata at an altitude of 7,546 meters and Shishapangma’s east peak, Zhangzi Peak, at 7,543 meters. With his extensive climbing experience, he hopes fellow mountaineers will focus on the journey and experience of climbing rather than just fixating on reaching the summit. “For many, deciding to descend is actually harder than climbing up,” Liu said. “In fact, what we call ‘failure’ can teach us more than success. The joy of success often makes people forget to reflect and summarize.”
Chen Xiezhong, born in 1950 from Zhejiang Province, was the oldest participant in this year’s climbing event. To fulfill a childhood dream of mountaineering, the man over sixty bravely took the first step. Even though his first attempt ended at the Advance Base Camp, his determination to pursue his dream still earned him respect. “I grew up by the sea and lived most of my life at zero altitude. Although I didn’t reach the summit this time, making it to the Advance Base Camp is already a great achievement!” After safely descending, Chen showed little sign of disappointment in front of the reporter and still wore a smile on his face.
“I believe climbing helps cultivate a spirit of teamwork. In challenging and complex environments, bonds of sincere camaraderie form among climbers. We support and care for each other like comrades, which really struck me deeply,” Chen said. Although he had a rocky start, he plans to keep trying mountaineering in the future.
This climbing event also welcomed a special participant—Xu Qing, a female wrestler from Hubei who twice represented China and won the Women’s Wrestling World Cup. Though she also hoped to challenge the summit, the Advance Base Camp marked the end of her journey this time. “The biggest takeaway for me this time is that sometimes you need to know when to let go. Everyone has their own strengths in life, and not everything has to be forced. Just having the experience of going from zero altitude to over 5,000 meters is already a victory!” Xu noted that this climbing experience would help her with mental adjustments during future competitions.
Austrian mountaineering and climbing expert Reinhold Messner wrote in his book “Life Is Like Climbing a Mountain”: “Not reaching the summit, not accomplishing something—is not failure. The only real failure is never starting the journey, never even trying.” Even if you don’t get to experience the thrill and joy of “looking down upon all the other peaks,” if you’ve given your all to climb upward, felt the majesty of the snow mountains and your own limits, gained some valuable life perspectives through extreme exhaustion and pain, and acquired courage and confidence to face future challenges—who could say that wasn’t a successful climb?