Over 24 days, cycling 2,140 km just to see the scenery along the way—Fu Jian, a senior at Anhui Agricultural University, rode the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. Along the journey, he faced one challenge after another: altitude sickness, intense ultraviolet rays, hail and snowstorms, landslides and falling rocks, not to mention the blizzard on Zheduo Mountain. It was truly perilous.
Yet the breathtaking scenery—the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, primeval forests, and canyons and rivers—made this 23-year-old from Lu’an feel it was all worth it. Yesterday, Fu Jian said in an interview, “My youth was all about pedaling like crazy.”
He cycled nearly 200 km in a single day at most
At 10:46 a.m. on April 24 this year, the train from Hefei to Chengdu departed. Fu Jian, a 2009 statistics major at Anhui Agricultural University, was on board, along with his beloved mountain bike. On April 25, after meeting up with online riding buddies in Chengdu, the group of eight officially began their wild graduation commemoration—cycling the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.
The Sichuan-Tibet Highway features steep terrain, high altitudes, and common sights such as snow-capped mountains, deserts, and cliffs, with many obstacles along the way. Fu Jian said that at high altitudes, “your eyes want to close, your head aches, and you feel sleepy”—the symptoms of altitude sickness were obvious.
Along the route, they passed twelve snow-capped mountains including Erlang Mountain, Zheduo Mountain, Dongda Mountain, Sejila Mountain, and Minya Konka. They drank glacial water flowing down from the mountains and ate steamed buns with pickled vegetables. Glacial water, altitude sickness, intense ultraviolet rays, headwinds at mountain passes, hail and snowstorms, landslides and falling rocks came one after another, while stomachaches, headaches, hunger and cold, and fatigue appeared from time to time. Even so, Fu Jian and his teammates still spent an average of ten hours on the road each day, sometimes cycling up to about 200 km in a single day.
The stunning scenery made it all worth it
Why did he yearn for Lhasa? Fu Jian said he was drawn by the scenery along the way, which is why he chose the more picturesque southern route.
The southern Sichuan-Tibet Highway boasts the most spectacular snow-capped mountains under the sun, pristine lakes, grasslands with yaks and barley wine, as well as pilgrims prostrating themselves along the road. “Riding through the forest, with cliffs on your left, snow-capped mountains on your right, wild animals ahead, and your teammates behind, even a hundred-kilometer uphill climb feels absolutely exhilarating...”
What impressed him the most was the view from Sejila Mountain. At an altitude of over 4,700 meters, the eastern side is a rarely visited primeval forest, the western side is barren land devoid of vegetation, while at the foot of the mountain lies fertile green land.
After cycling the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, life’s challenges no longer seem difficult
Fu Jian said that only by taking paths others haven’t walked can you see sights others haven’t seen. “We spent 24 days cycling the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, covering 2,140 km,” Fu Jian said. His greatest gain was the brotherhood he formed with his seven riding companions along the way. “We sang loudly on the roads, admired the views at mountain tops, and drank and played around in hostels. We stuck together through thick and thin.”
“This journey required strong willpower. On the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, my youth was all about pedaling like crazy,” Fu Jian said. “I’ve conquered the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, and I believe that no matter how tough the mountains in life’s journey may be, I’ll be able to climb them.”