College students winter break experience budget traveling in Yunnan three times facing life-and-death situations
Budget traveling in Yunnan three times facing life-and-death situations
“Around 4 p.m., the weather suddenly turned bad, with strong winds blowing on the mountain and snow starting to fall.” Deng, a student, still looked nervous when recalling the experience, “The Tibetans say that Mount Meili doesn’t welcome outsiders, and we ended up encountering two avalanches. The sound was louder than a plane taking off—the snow on the peak collapsed halfway, but luckily it stopped midway, or we wouldn’t have made it back.” In order to get down the mountain before dark, Deng hurried back but got lost and wandered into a huge underground forest. It took the two of them three hours to get out of the forest, “Later, when we stayed at a nearby hostel, we saw many animal skins hanging on the wall. The owner said there are still many wolves and bears in the forest now.” Having faced life-and-death situations several times, Deng sincerely exclaimed, “It’s great to be alive ! Really, it’s great to be alive!”
My alternative winter break experience: Traveling all over Hainan on a second-hand bike for 180 yuan
Traveling all over Hainan on a second-hand bike for 180 yuan
In the live updates from their island cycling trip on Weibo, what left the deepest impression was that they were constantly fixing their bikes. Lantiancheng told reporters that because they mostly cycled on highways, there were many shards of glass and bits of wire on the shoulders, often puncturing their tires. By the end of the trip, each person’s tires had been punctured three or four times, in addition to various other mishaps like broken bearings and dropped chains. Xiao Zhanhang joked, “After this trip, everyone became an expert at fixing bikes.”
On the 14-day journey, the three of them spent an average of only about 2,400 yuan each. Lantiancheng and Li Ziwei borrowed their bikes, while Xiao Zhanhang simply rode the second-hand bike he bought for 180 yuan at school all the way to Hainan, “Although it was hard to ride, my bike ended up being the one that broke down the least.”
Lantiancheng said his biggest gain was the strengthening of his willpower. For the last 12 kilometers of the island loop, he walked the entire way, “On the highway, I had a serious flat tire. After trying to patch it several times, it kept losing air, so I had to give up. With 12 kilometers to go to Haikou, I could only push the bike and walk.” Even so, Lantiancheng said he didn’t regret it, “In the future, I won’t easily give up when facing setbacks, nor will I panic when dealing with tough problems. Staying calm and composed—that’s my biggest takeaway.”