Would you be willing to spend seven days and nights hiking over 400 kilometers to go home for the Lunar New Year? Nineteen-year-old college student Jiang Wenlong and 20-year-old Zhang Linghui put their “iron feet” to the test, embarking on this nearly “crazy” long march.
Last night, Jiang Wenlong and Zhang Linghui stood at the doorstep of their home in Lengshuitan District, Yongzhou City, and called reporters to report that they were safe. After a journey of roughing it, trekking over mountains, and passing through cities such as Changsha, Xiangtan, Hengyang, and Yongzhou, these two “tough” young men finally made it home safely on foot.
Lacking gear, “knights” turned into “donkeys”
A 100-liter backpack, a tent, a 400-kilometer mountainous journey, seven days and nights... “Thinking back on every little detail of the trip, we still find it unbelievable!” Jiang Wenlong told reporters over the phone, “Why did we choose to hike over 400 kilometers home? Just for one word: ‘grind!’ College life should be colorful, and enduring hardship and toughening up are among the most important hues!” To them, walking 400 kilometers home was just the first step in their goal to “read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.”
Jiang Wenlong, who just turned 19 this year, is from Lengshuitan District, Yongzhou City, and is a freshman majoring in industrial design at Central South University of Forestry and Technology. His fellow townsman, Zhang Linghui, 20, is a freshman in the Communication Engineering program at Xingxiang College of Xiangtan University. The two have loved outdoor travel since childhood and, more than a month before the holiday, agreed to bike home together.
On the 21st, Jiang Wenlong and Zhang Linghui set off from the Changsha campus of Central South University of Forestry and Technology, beginning a seven-day trekking odyssey. “Because we weren’t fully equipped, we ultimately had to give up being ‘knights,’” Zhang Linghui said. Due to a lack of funds to buy racing bikes and gear, they had to change their plan of biking home. But they came up with an even “crazier” idea: to walk back instead. So, they prepared the large backpacks essential for any outdoor trekker, bought necessities like a tent, and at 2 p.m. on the 21st, the two “donkeys” shouldered their packs and set off on their journey.
Slept in sleeping bags soaked through overnight
“We suffered all the way—the sleeping bags got drenched, we were scammed, our feet were covered in blisters so painful we could barely move...” Jiang Wenlong told reporters. In the middle of the night, the cold wind felt like knives slicing across their faces, and their sleeping bags were soaked through by rain. Even so, they didn’t give up easily.
On the second day after setting off, they entered the Xiangtan area. Under a gloomy sky, cold rain began to fall. The pair only had one umbrella and continued walking while sharing it against the wind and rain. At night, after having walked for nearly 10 hours, Jiang Wenlong and Zhang Linghui stopped to rest in Yijiawan, Xiangtan. However, when they tried to set up the tent, they found that, without a rain cover, their sleeping bags had been soaked through by the rain.
What to do? Make a fire. In the bitter cold, using the dim light of a flashlight, they climbed up a hill by the roadside, searching around for dry branches to start a fire. Zhang Linghui accidentally tripped over a branch and nearly rolled down the slope. “That was really close—luckily my bones are tough,” he said. After getting up, he checked his whole body to make sure nothing was hurt, then finally let out a sigh of relief.
Jiang Wenlong said they initially followed National Highway 107, then switched to National Highway 322 after reaching Hengyang. This route was basically the most feasible and relatively shortest, spanning a total of 400 kilometers. To save time, they generally walked about 10 hours during the day and set up tents at night by the roadside, under bridges, at stations, in waiting shelters, or on open land near farmhouses.
When their packed rations ran out, they wandered around disheveled, looking for shops to buy food and asking locals for drinking water. “Some people didn’t understand us and thought we were weird, but many more offered support,” Jiang Wenlong said. On the third night, when their food supplies ran out and they were cold and hungry, they knocked on the door of a farmhouse in the border area between Xiangtan and Hengyang and asked to stay the night. The host not only didn’t mind but also cooked them a fresh, hot meal for free.
“All along the way, unknown wildflowers and greens by the roadside became our entertainment scenery!” the pair said. The seven-day trek actually had quite a bit of fun. Singing to the sky in the fields, taking photos, digging for wild vegetables, and other self-entertaining activities helped them find joy amid the hardships. At night, they would occasionally hold “bonfire parties” in the wilderness. “Watching the starry sky by the bonfire—can you get that experience in the city?” In Jiang Wenlong’s description, the journey wasn’t so much a hardship as it was a poetic adventure.
Next step: bike to Tibet
As the only boy in the family, Jiang Wenlong has been doted on since childhood. When he told his family about his plan to walk home, his parents thought he had gone mad and called him daily to dissuade him. Yet, he remained steady throughout the journey: rubbing his own sore feet, huddling together for warmth when it was cold. To reassure his family, the considerate young man made sure to call home and report he was safe whenever there was phone signal.
“Be as strong as Kobe, as confident as Bruce Lee,” Jiang Wenlong said. He wants to win the future with strength and confidence. Next, he plans to bike to Tibet and explore the snowy plateau. “Report on me again then—I’ll definitely bike all the way to the Potala Palace!”
Eighty percent of netizens support their action
Train, long-distance bus, chartered car… There are many convenient ways to travel from Changsha to Yongzhou. Would you choose to walk? Can you understand the crazy trek of these two post-90s youths? Yesterday, reporters posed this question online to gather netizens’ opinions, and nearly 80 percent voiced strong support for their decision to walk home.
A netizen using the handle “I Want Independence” said that post-90s college students are now almost synonymous with being pampered—many wouldn’t even take a train without a sleeper berth—but these two hiked over 400 kilometers home. Their willpower and determination are truly admirable.
Netizen “Used to Ease” listed three major takeaways from Jiang Wenlong and Zhang Linghui’s walk home: first, building willpower; second, cultivating independence; and third, learning survival skills.
But nearly 20 percent of netizens argued that walking home was simply a waste of energy and totally unnecessary. Netizen “Summer Grass” said that transportation is so advanced nowadays, walking home wastes too much time and is moreover very unsafe. There are plenty of ways to build character, and that amount of time could be better spent reading several good books.