Jin Feibao is the world's fastest explorer to complete the “7+2” expeditions. In 2006 and 2007, he spent 18 months and 24 days summiting the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest; Africa’s rooftop, Mount Kilimanjaro; Antarctica’s “Death Zone,” Mount Vinson; North America’s “Graveyard of Mountaineers,” Denali; Europe’s highest peak, Mount Elbrus; Oceania’s highest peak, Puncak Jaya; and South America’s “Giant of the Americas,” Aconcagua. He also trekked to the North and South Poles. He later published the book Desert Sahara, recounting his 2009 journey as the first Chinese person to venture deep into the Sahara Desert.
Reflecting on his death-defying trek across the Sahara, Jin Feibao said: “Those 80-plus days were just a small chapter in life. If I hadn’t gone out, I would’ve wasted those 80 days at home anyway. I wanted to make the most of those 80 days.”
Jin Feibao faced many challenges in the Sahara. In Algeria, he and his companion Fei Xuan were arrested by police and taken to court for taking photos, as they were suspected of being spies. They were spared from jail only with the help of staff at the Chinese embassy. While trekking through the isolated heart of the desert, their camels, which were carrying essential gear, went missing for three days, cutting them off from contact with the outside world.
Like many mischievous children, Jin Feibao developed a love for travel and adventure from a young age. In middle school, he was weak in math and science but excelled in writing essays—often penning twenty-plus pages in one night. His essays were so good that teachers frequently read them aloud in class, as they vividly recounted his many travel experiences.
Jin Feibao started traveling in junior high, often skipping school with classmates to explore the areas around Kunming. They’d ride on top of train carriages and pick fruit in orchards. These travel experiences enriched his writing material. He was also an avid reader. “In middle school, I loved reading Tolstoy, Maupassant, Chekhov, and Hemingway’s hard-boiled novels. Books had a subtle influence on my later travels. For example, my trip to the Sahara was inspired by Sanmao’s Stories of the Sahara. Before going, I bought the latest edition and read it during the trip. I felt she had written about the Sahara with her very life.”
Jin Feibao’s childhood experiences in travel and reading planted the seed of his “exploration” dream.
After graduating from high school, Jin Feibao worked as a textile worker at a factory in Yunnan.
“I didn’t get into university,” Jin Feibao said. “But I attended classes at the universities where my friends who did get in studied. I went to almost every philosophy and art class at Yunnan University. That’s why I never got any bonuses at the factory.”
After starting work, Jin Feibao grew dissatisfied with the monotonous factory job and low salary: “I wanted to go exploring. But with a monthly wage of just 36 yuan, there was no way I could.”
Jin Feibao said that although he dreamed of exploration as a teenager, he later forgot about it—only to remember it again later: “After going through life’s ‘age of reason’ and ‘age of understanding,’ experiencing wealth and bankruptcy, I reaffirmed my dream.”
Though Jin Feibao holds only an associate degree, he is now a guest professor at several universities, including Yunnan University. He has been a successful entrepreneur, masterminded numerous events, and undertaken many expeditions. He once said: “Life is like running a marathon. Starting fast isn’t success—going the distance is what shows true strength.”
Having pushed his physical limits, he now reflects on life this way: “In the Sahara, my companion told me the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Yet the average human lives at most 100 years. Compared to the Earth’s lifespan, a human life is like 1 millimeter to 45 kilometers. We must draw that 1 millimeter well. Some people can’t draw it because their lives are too short. Others can’t because their lives leave no mark. I want to draw that 1 millimeter well. But with what? I’ve decided: through exploration.”
Jin Feibao is now preparing to cross the Amazon in 2013.