Longtousi Railway Station, Tan Jiaguo returns from a trek in the Tibetan region.
Yesterday morning, at the exit of the north station of Longtousi Railway Station, 58-year-old Tan Jiaguo from Wanzhou returned to Chongqing with a bulging backpack. He had just completed a 111-day, 3,700-kilometer journey back to the Tibetan area. This was his 13th long-distance hike in five and a half years, and over these years he has hiked a total of 43,000 kilometers—just about the length of the Earth’s equator.
First Hike: Lost 30 Pounds on a Beijing Trek
Tan Jiaguo is a retired veteran. He retired from an agency in Wanzhou District in 2001.
“I started hiking to lose weight and get fit. I’d always wanted to see Tiananmen Square, so I planned to start from National Highway 308 near my home and hike all the way to Beijing,” Tan told reporters. In 2007, a medical checkup showed he weighed 172 pounds and was diagnosed with fatty liver and high uric acid. On March 13 of that year, he set off with just a map, a bottle of liniment tincture, a flashlight, a basic backpack, and sports shoes that cost 70 yuan a pair.
Tan admitted that he was a bit scared about taking on such a long trek for the first time, and his family wasn’t entirely at ease either. “I wasn’t sure if I could make it—whether my body and willpower would hold up until Beijing.”
Seventy days later, after trekking 2,150 kilometers, Tan arrived in Beijing successfully, saw Tiananmen Square, and lost 30 pounds in the process.
After years of regular trekking and exercise, Tan says he now weighs just over 120 pounds, and the health issues he once had have disappeared without treatment. He hasn’t even had a minor cold throughout all those years of hiking. Along the way, he met other hikers and truly experienced the joy of trekking. “I want to hike across all of China.” With the success of his first trip to Beijing, Tan set himself a new goal.
Adventure: Knocked Down by a Vehicle on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway
After returning from Beijing, Tan scheduled two hiking trips every year. In the first half of 2009, he completed his sixth long-distance hike, starting from Chongqing, passing through Guizhou and Yunnan, and finally arriving in Lhasa, Tibet via the Yunnan-Tibet Highway.
On March 7 of this year, he set out again, taking a bus to Longchang in Sichuan, from where he began another trek back into the Tibetan region—this being his 13th long-distance hike. On March 10, he left Longchang County in Sichuan and entered Tibet via National Highway 318 (the Sichuan-Tibet Highway). He switched to the northern route in Bangda, heading to Xining in Qinghai, and also completed a hike around Qinghai Lake.
On June 25, after 108 days of hiking, Tan added another 3,700 kilometers to his journey. The next day, he boarded a train back to Chongqing.
“The Sichuan-Tibet Highway is truly tough. I carried a 25-kilogram backpack and crossed more than 20 mountains over 4,000 meters above sea level, including two peaks over 5,000 meters,” Tan said. Along the way, he faced extreme weather conditions—scorching sun, snowstorms—and at different points, three separate groups of young men asked to join him, but none could endure the hardship and eventually hitched rides to continue their journeys.
Yesterday, a reporter spoke by phone with a 26-year-old man named Xiao Liu, who had hiked with Tan for six days.
“Uncle Tan is amazing—he could walk about 40 kilometers every day,” Xiao Liu told reporters. He had just been discharged from the military and didn’t have the endurance that Tan did. On April 16, while traveling from Yajiang County to Batang County, Xiao Liu suffered from altitude sickness and had to take a ride to continue.
Tan also shared a scary experience. On May 5, while walking along a national highway near Chamdo County, a pickup truck suddenly overtook him on the left. Its side mirror caught the backpack on his right shoulder, pulling him violently to the ground. The truck dragged the backpack for about 10 meters before stopping. Fortunately, he only suffered minor abrasions, but his laptop was damaged.
Wish: Complete a Loop Around Taiwan
Tan told reporters that although his family respected his decision to go hiking, they were still very worried about him living outdoors for long periods. His daughter, Tan Li, bought him a camera, a laptop, and a wireless internet card. Whenever he had access to the internet during breaks, he video-chatted with his daughter to let her know he was safe. Because he spent long periods away from his wife, when he reached tourist cities, he would wait there for her to visit by train, and the couple would sometimes explore nearby sights together.
His junior high school classmate Yang Xiaoqing is the person he keeps in most frequent contact with. Every afternoon, he sends her a text message updating her on his daily progress and experiences, along with photos. She even livestreams his journey on online forums. “All these years, I’ve updated or replied to Old Tan’s hiking posts almost every day,” Yang said.
Since taking his first step in March 2007, Tan has traveled to every province, municipality, autonomous region, and special administrative region in China except Taiwan. In the second half of 2007, he completed a trek through the Three Gorges Reservoir area; in the second half of 2008, he hiked 3,000 kilometers through all 40 districts and counties in Chongqing. On June 15, 2008, during the Olympic torch relay in Wanzhou, Tan was one of the torchbearers; in 2012, he was also nominated as one of Chongqing’s Top Ten Moving Figures. “I’ve walked nearly 43,000 kilometers in five and a half years. Next, I’m aiming to complete a loop around Taiwan,” Tan said, looking at the brocade cloth covered in dense stamps.