On August 4, firefighters who participated in the rescue of 23 trapped hikers were climbing up steep mountain slopes. (Photo provided by Wu Weisong).
“Dragging my exhausted body, I miraculously made it back—having walked to the edge of death. This is something I’ll remember for life. Thank you, my comrades, my brothers. True friendship is revealed in adversity…”
At around 11:00 PM on August 4, this message appeared on the QQ space of Wu Weisong from the Yiling District Squadron of the Yichang City Public Security Fire Brigade in Hubei Province.
On August 4, while accompanying a team to rescue 23 stranded hikers at Huangniuyan Scenic Area in Sandouping Town, Yiling District, Wu Weisong suffered heatstroke and exhaustion due to severe dehydration.
This was the fourth incident involving hikers getting into danger during outdoor exploration in Yichang in just half a month. Interviews with various parties revealed that although such adventures are often criticized for wasting social resources after incidents occur, this activity combining travel and sport remains in a regulatory vacuum in China.
Rescuers lamented, “It was too dangerous.”
On August 3, Yichang was hit by heavy rain, triggering flash floods in several mountains.
At around 9:00 AM on August 4, the Yichang Yiling District Public Security Bureau received a report that 23 hikers had entered Longjingxi Waterfall for canyoning on August 3, but all 23 had gone missing and could not be contacted.
After receiving the report, Yichang quickly organized over 100 personnel, including police officers, firefighters, and local officials from Sandouping Town, to enter the mountains and divide into four groups to carry out search and rescue operations.
After 11 hours of searching, rescuers who entered via Longjingxi made contact with the missing hikers and located all 23 in the upstream area. The rescuers then escorted them to safety.
During the search and rescue of the 23 stranded hikers on August 5, two firefighters and two police officers suffered exhaustion due to prolonged lack of supplies and severe dehydration.
Wu Weisong was one of the two firefighters who became exhausted from severe dehydration.
Thinking back to the rescue, Wu Weisong still feels a bit “fearful.” He said there were no paths on the mountain, and rescuers had to clear their own way through steep and rugged slopes. “Along the way, we also encountered a cliff with complex terrain. At that moment, I felt I was in real danger of falling off.”
It is understood that the 23 hikers were canyoning along a section about 15 kilometers long through a stream canyon with complex terrain, no trails or communication lines, and a drop of nearly 1,000 meters.
At around 6:00 PM on August 4, as it grew dark in the mountains, to ensure their own safety, Wu Weisong’s rescue team prepared to return. En route, they learned via walkie-talkie that the 23 hikers had been rescued.
On the way back, Wu Weisong felt he had reached his limit. “I only drank one bottle of water in over ten hours—I was dehydrated.” There were quite a few comrades who felt the same. After resting for a while, the team, carrying heavy rescue gear, continued forward.
“Along the way, I drank dirty water mixed with leeches from a pool just to survive. Even thinking about it now makes me sick,” Wu Weisong said.
After walking a bit further, Wu Weisong and his team met up with the support personnel. After eating a corn cob and drinking a cup of brown sugar water, Wu Weisong finally recovered. It wasn’t until around 10:00 PM on the evening of the 4th that they returned to safety.
“In my eight years of service, this was the most difficult rescue I’ve ever been through. Hikers should have limits when exploring. They shouldn’t pursue thrills blindly, because not only could they hurt themselves, but when in danger, it also creates challenges for our rescue efforts, and could even cost the lives of our comrades,” Wu Weisong reflected.
Ke Yangbing, the political commissar of the Yichang Public Security Fire Brigade’s Three Gorges Special Service Fire Brigade, also participated in another rescue team. He said that due to the complex terrain, hot weather, and insufficient logistical support, the soldiers ran out of all the drinking water they had brought. This left them severely thirsty for six hours, with some experiencing serious dehydration, heatstroke, and even shock, coming close to sacrificing their lives.
Hui Bin from the Hubei Provincial Public Security Fire Corps told Legal Daily that it’s not wrong for hikers to seek fitness, but entering dangerous areas for hiking without familiarity with the terrain or guaranteed personal safety, and requiring dozens or even hundreds of rescuers once in danger, is simply irresponsible to themselves and to society.
Outdoor exploration: Nature of activity hard to define, regulation lacking
The unique geography of Yichang, Hubei, has made it a destination for many outdoor adventure enthusiasts. However, due to lack of outdoor experience, weather conditions, and other reasons, incidents involving hikers in distress frequently occur. From July 20 to the present this year alone, three similar events have occurred locally.
On July 20, 21 explorers got into trouble in Huangliang Town, Xingshan County, Yichang, with 20 rescued and 1 killed; on July 21, 7 explorers were caught in a flood and trapped in Changyang Ye Renxi for 16 hours; on August 3, 20 explorers were on an outdoor adventure in Letianxi, Yiling District, where one explorer fell and fractured a bone but was rescued.
Zhou Yong, an official from the office of Yichang Sports Bureau, explained that current national regulations for activities like outdoor exploration include only the “Domestic Mountaineering Management Regulations” and the “Licensing Management Measures for Operating High-Risk Sports Projects.” Those engaging in these sports activities are required by law to file reports.
“Most hikers participating in outdoor exploration do not file reports with local authorities. If someone organizes it, they just go together when they want to,” Zhou Yong said.
Ke Yangbing told reporters that the 23 hikers who got into trouble this time connected online, with one organizer announcing the meeting time and place and counting heads before departure.
“They didn’t know each other well or each other’s situations. In fact, about 15 of them were amateur outdoor enthusiasts, and a small number were beginners,” Ke Yangbing said. Coupled with the fact that most of these hikers hadn’t undergone systematic training, and the entire event lacked complete organization, planning, or standardized procedures, it significantly increased their risk of getting into danger and the difficulty of rescue.
Ke Yangbing suggested that relevant departments could be responsible for establishing a registration system for outdoor expeditions, clarifying details such as the number of participants, contact information, and planned routes, so that timely rescue can be carried out in case of emergencies.
“Currently, the state does not have a clear definition of whether outdoor expeditions are a sports activity or a tourism activity. Strictly speaking, it is not under the jurisdiction of our sports department,” said Zhou Yong. Outdoor expeditions are more akin to leisure tourism, which leads to a lack of oversight before they take place and no legal basis for penalties afterward.
“There are no specific regulations for outdoor expeditions, and the legislation is also incomplete,” said Chen Yuanxin, associate professor at the School of Physical Education of Central China Normal University. Although the General Administration of Sport of China has issued management measures for high-risk sports activities, outdoor expeditions are not classified as sports but rather as a combination of sports and tourism.
In Chen Yuanxin’s view, the frequent occurrence of dangerous incidents in outdoor expeditions is largely related to the current lack of effective regulatory measures.
“The existing regulations mainly involve administrative fines, often just a few hundred yuan, which do not serve the true purpose of punishment or education,” Chen Yuanxin suggested. He recommended increasing the amount of administrative penalties and requiring rescued individuals to bear the costs of search and rescue operations, in order to reduce various hazardous incidents caused by reckless outdoor expeditions.