Two brothers hike 1,000 km to raise funds for "libraries"
They plan to take 45 days, accompanied by adults, to travel from Beijing to Nanjing’s Rain Flower Terrace to raise money
At 5 a.m. today, Xie Pingyun and Xie Pingran from Xingtai, Hebei, will set off from Tiananmen Square, planning to hike 1,100 km to Nanjing’s Rain Flower Terrace to raise funds for the “Happy Reading” program of the China Youth Development Foundation.
It is reported that last year the two brothers hiked for 19 days from Xingtai to Beijing, raising nearly 40,000 yuan in lunch fees for underprivileged students.
Hope to get Jackie Chan’s autograph
Yesterday, Xie Aimin, along with his 12-year-old son Xie Pingyun and 14-year-old nephew Xie Pingran, came from Xingtai to Beijing and checked into a budget hotel.
“The two kids have been looking forward to summer vacation for a long time,” said Xie Aimin as he and the two boys packed over 80 pounds of luggage. “Last July, after the two hiked from Xingtai to Beijing, they became ‘addicted’ to fundraising hikes. This time, the three of us plan to take 45 days to hike from Beijing to Nanjing’s Rain Flower Terrace to raise funds for the ‘Happy Reading’ program of the China Youth Development Foundation. The entire journey is 1,100 km.”
“I specifically chose several places with cultural heritage sites so that while fundraising, the children can also broaden their horizons,” said Xie Aimin. This time, they plan to pass through Qufu, Tai’an, Xuzhou, and other places.
With the experience of last year’s 19-day hike, Xie Pingyun and Xie Pingran both expressed confidence in completing this fundraising hike.
“This time we also have three dreams,” said Xie Pingyun and Xie Pingran. They want to set up a 30,000-yuan student aid fund at their hometown’s Neiqiu County No. 2 Middle School in Xingtai. “We hope to get Uncle Jackie Chan’s autograph. It would be even better if we could do a hiking charity education activity in Taiwan or abroad—more experience and training,” they added.
Watch the flag-raising ceremony before setting off
Xie Aimin said that currently, the two children don’t yet have a deep understanding of charity and public welfare; they simply want to raise funds to help more struggling students. Kindness and innocence are the most beautiful qualities in children—that’s the biggest reason he brought them on this public welfare hike. Through this process, meeting many people and experiencing many things, especially helps the two brothers become more perseverant, patient, and sensible.
“A 45-day hiking journey is something you can’t learn in any cram school,” said Xie Aimin.
Yesterday, the two brothers said that before setting off today, they will watch a flag-raising ceremony.
Follow-up
Bringing mountain spring water to offer at Rain Flower Terrace
Last July, the two brothers, led by Xie Aimin, hiked from Xingtai to Beijing and raised nearly 40,000 yuan in lunch fees for underprivileged students at a local middle school. To date, they have supported the lunch costs of 28 such students.
Last September, they participated in the China Youth Development Foundation’s “Challenge 8 Hours” fundraising event for “Happy Reading” in Beijing, rallying over 500 people and raising more than 2,800 yuan in donations.
On April 20 this year, after the Ya’an earthquake, the two brothers took to the streets and raised 739 yuan that day, which they donated to the “Hope Project Emergency Disaster Relief and Student Aid Campaign.”
For this hike, the brothers brought two bottles of mountain spring water from the mountains back home. They plan to pour the water at the martyrs’ memorial at their final destination, Nanjing’s Rain Flower Terrace.
The two brothers said that the luggage cart they used last year is still being used this time. The cart broke a metal rod under the heavy load last year, but after repairs, it’s still usable. So the brothers named it the “Indomitable.” They also brought two syringes. “We call them ‘little bees.’” On long treks, blisters often form on their feet. When that happens, they’ll use the needle tips to “sting” the blisters and draw out the fluid.
Happy Reading
A project launched by the China Youth Development Foundation in April 2012 to donate books to rural primary schools and train reading guidance teachers for those schools.