As more people take up outdoor activities such as hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing, skiing, and exploration, "trekking" across the Tianshan Mountains has become a healthy and fashionable pursuit. However, the outdoor gear market is a mixed bag, with some products lacking even national standards, making "trekking" fraught with danger and leaving many travelers feeling uneasy.
Outdoor gear stores emerge to ride the trend
Outdoor travel is both healthy and fashionable, which is why it is attracting more and more enthusiasts. Jin Yingjie, head of the outdoor department at the Xinjiang Mountaineering Association, said that the outdoor travel craze continues unabated year after year.
With over 180 popular outdoor routes including vast deserts, grasslands, and canyons, Xinjiang has become one of the main destinations for outdoor enthusiasts to hike, travel, and explore.
It is estimated that there are currently over 300,000 outdoor sports enthusiasts in Xinjiang, and just through the local outdoor website Xiaoyang Army Outdoor Network, more than 60,000 people participate in outdoor activities each year.
Outdoor gear stores in Xinjiang have emerged to ride the trend. As early as 1997, the first outdoor gear store appeared in Xinjiang, and since 2002, their numbers have been on the rise. By 2011, there were over 170 registered companies and individual businesses dealing in outdoor gear in Urumqi, as per the Urumqi Administration for Industry and Commerce, including more than 60 individual businesses. Industry insiders estimate that there are at least 200 outdoor gear stores in Xinjiang.
Reporters found during their investigation that nowadays, outdoor gear stores can be seen in major shopping malls in Xinjiang’s major cities and prefecture-level counties, with sales models such as chain stores, franchises, and online shopping also rapidly developing.
Outdoor gear quality is hard to discern
With the rise of outdoor sports, the buying and selling of outdoor gear has become increasingly brisk, but most consumers know very little about product quality.
Hiker "Butterfly" was picking out a windbreaker at an outdoor gear store on Renmin Road in Urumqi. She planned to go on a "trek" over the weekend and had visited several similarly sized outdoor stores. The jackets looked similar from the outside, but prices could vary by several hundred yuan. She couldn’t judge their quality or performance, nor did she know which ones were windproof or waterproof. She could only decide whether to buy based on price, feel, and the seller’s description. Telling fake products from genuine ones was even more difficult for her.
"So far, there haven’t been any incidents in Xinjiang caused by faulty gear, but that doesn’t mean no one is worried. I’ve been a trekker for nearly 20 years, and in Urumqi, only two or three outdoor gear stores sell real products. The rest are selling fakes, and the market is very chaotic," said veteran trekker Wang Xinyi, expressing his frustration with the current state of the outdoor gear market.
"People who enjoy outdoor activities may go out for a short trip of a day or two, or longer trips lasting a week or more. If the gear isn’t up to standard, it can cause serious trouble," said Wang Xinyi. His wife, who has been hiking for ten years, said that during weekend hikes, they often come across trekkers with subpar gear—either shoes that aren’t breathable, leaving feet sweaty and pale after just half a day, or sleeping bags that don’t keep warm, resulting in sleepless nights.
Reporters found during their visit to the Urumqi market that although there is a wide variety of outdoor sportswear available, there is little information about the functionality of the products. Some products even have less detailed labeling than regular clothing. Some only have labels in foreign languages such as English or Korean, with no Chinese, and prices vary widely.
Outdoor gear needs to "strengthen itself"
Outdoor travel often comes with risks, and in recent years, reports of trekkers being stranded or killed are not uncommon. Xinjiang has also seen its share of exploration mishaps. It’s not hard to imagine that using substandard gear adds even more danger to outdoor activities.
Wang Xinyi said that outdoor activities involve high physical exertion, profuse sweating, and occasional exposure to snowy, rainy, foggy, or windy weather, as well as frequent mountain trekking and river crossing. This demands that outdoor clothing excels in breathability, ventilation, windproofing, waterproofing, and warmth retention, and ideally should also be lightweight, stretch-resistant, tear-resistant, stain-resistant, antibacterial, and odor-resistant. He believes that given the nature of outdoor sports, the quality standards for gear—including clothing and footwear—should be stricter.
But the reality is different. Lei Yongkang, deputy section chief of the Regulations Department at the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Fiber Inspection Bureau, said that China currently has no national standards specifically for outdoor sportswear. However, there are two types of standards for textile quality: one is voluntary or recommended standards, which are not mandatory, and any organization can choose whether to adopt them. Violating these does not result in economic or legal liability. The other is national mandatory standards, which must be strictly followed once issued. Organizations or individuals that cause serious consequences or significant losses by not complying will face economic penalties or legal responsibility.
Lei Yongkang said that businesses decide what materials, dyes, or styles of clothing to use. "We only step in to check whether they adhere to the standards they claim to follow. For example, we test a jacket for excessive formaldehyde, unpleasant odors, colorfastness, and pH levels to ensure they meet national requirements. But we can't control whether the jacket is made of cotton or synthetic fibers."
According to statistics from the Outdoor Products Branch of the China Textile Commerce Association, in 2011, China’s outdoor gear industry had shipment and retail sales of 5.43 billion yuan and 10.76 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 69.16% and 50.91%. However, at the same time, regions like Shandong and Henan have repeatedly reported cases of the outdoor gear market lacking standards, with many manufacturers mixing genuine and fake products.
Outdoor sports need to "eliminate risks," and safe, reliable outdoor gear is one of the prerequisites. Some outdoor gear business operators and consumers interviewed said that as the outdoor gear market matures, specific standards for outdoor gear are needed, and relevant industry standards also urgently require improvement. The state should quickly establish industry standards to prevent counterfeit products from flooding the market, regulate business sales practices, and make it easier for consumers to seek redress.