Over 800 students from 23 Asian business schools will embark on a trek across 112 kilometers of the Gobi Desert in Guazhou, Gansu from May 22 to 25 this year, personally experiencing one of the most perilous sections of the journey once traveled by the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang over a thousand years ago.
The organizing committee of the 8th "Xuanzang's Journey" Business School Gobi Challenge held a press conference in Lanzhou on the 10th. Committee Chairman Qu Xiangdong introduced that the challenge is scheduled to gather in Dunhuang on May 20–21, with the competition taking place in Guazhou from May 22–25. Participants will set off from the ruins of Ta'er Temple in Suoyang City, Guazhou, endure a four-day, three-night trek across 112 kilometers of Gobi Desert, and reach the finish line at Baidunzi.
Located at the western end of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, Guazhou borders the world-renowned tourist city of Dunhuang to the west. It was a key transportation hub along the ancient Silk Road and an important section of Xuanzang’s pilgrimage.
It is understood that the "Xuanzang's Journey" Business School Gobi Challenge originated as a key cultural exchange event during the 2006 China-India Friendship Year. From the first to the seventh edition, over 4,000 students from more than 20 Asian business schools have participated.
According to reports, participants in this year’s challenge come from the business schools of 23 prestigious universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, CEIBS, National Taiwan University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and the National University of Singapore. More than 1,500 people have registered, including family and friends groups and members of the media, among which over 800 are business school students. The students will trek the entire course, while others will take part in a one-day experience activity.
After the challenge concludes, the organizing committee will also hold the inaugural "Xuanzang's Journey" Guazhou Gobi Music Festival and launch the "Xuanzang's Journey" Gobi Public Welfare Forest Project, establishing the "Xuanzang's Journey" Gobi Public Welfare Forest Fund to support sand control, afforestation, and ecological restoration efforts in Guazhou.