In the morning in Tongwu Village, Zhuantang, the air is filled with the fragrance of tea trees. On the vast tea-covered mountains, a slightly hunched figure is climbing uphill with light and agile steps.
The elderly climber is Zou Junsheng, who is 72 years old this year.
Five years ago, for the sake of his health, Zou Junsheng, together with other elderly villagers, began climbing mountains as a form of exercise. But at that time, there were mountains in Tongwu but no paths.
Over these five years, the West Lake District government has opened up the continuous mountain ranges in Zhuantang, creating the Xishan Walking Trail—the longest mountain hiking trail in Hangzhou and even the longest in the country. Climbing is not only good exercise but also a pleasure. The elderly have even formed a Longwu Mountain Climbing Team.
Over the past five years, the climbing team has grown from just 5 members to over 280 today. The concept of mountain climbing for fitness has spread from Tongwu Village all across Hangzhou, thanks to the Xishan Walking Trail.
In Zhuantang, people can see the mountains right from their doors
Zou Junsheng’s home is on Donglu, Litongwu, where the mountains are visible right from the doorstep.
In Litongwu Village, whenever someone mentions “Zou Junsheng,” villagers will point toward the mountains. “At this hour, Junsheng and the other elders must be out climbing.”
Except when it rains, the elderly in Litongwu Village go climbing every day. Yesterday, Zou Junsheng climbed Zhuma Mountain in the village.
Zhuma Mountain is covered with tea trees. The mountain isn’t high or steep, and the path is flat, making it especially suitable for elderly climbers.
Zou Junsheng doesn’t just climb casually. He has scaled famous mountains in Zhejiang such as Jianglang Mountain in Jiangshan, Yandang Mountain in Wenzhou, and Putuo Mountain in Zhoushan. He’s also climbed Mount Tai in Shandong, Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui, and Mount Lu in Jiangxi… In 2009, invited by the Yushan Mountain Climbing Club in Taiwan, Zou Junsheng even climbed to the summit of Yushan, which stands 3,950 meters above sea level.
Having climbed so many mountains, Zou Junsheng still prefers the small ones near his home—the scenery is beautiful and the paths are flat.
Elderly in the Tea Region Long for a Beautiful Mountain Path
This year marks exactly five years since Zou Junsheng started climbing.
In the old days, Zou Junsheng worked at the Zhejiang Slide Film Factory. After retirement, he stayed at home, like other elderly folks in Zhuantang, with his only outdoor activity being tending to tea trees and roasting tea leaves.
His motivation to exercise came from an experience of his old friend’s sister. That elderly sister had always been in poor health—a real “pill-popper”—constantly going to the hospital. She was heavily reliant on medication until a doctor told her, “Yes, you need medicine when you’re sick, but what’s even better than medicine is exercise.”
However, unlike the urban area, Zhuantang lacks well-developed sports facilities, leaving seniors unsure where they could exercise.
But Zhuantang has plenty of mountains, so the idea of climbing for exercise emerged. However, with no paths on the mountains, the elderly had to bring their own tools each time and literally carve out a path as they climbed.
This way of climbing was simply too strenuous for these senior citizens.
The elderly often said, “With so many mountains in the West Lake District, it would be so much more enjoyable if each one had a proper path, just like around the West Lake.”
West Lake District Builds the Nation’s Longest Walking Trail
In fact, the elderly’s wish had long been on the agenda of the West Lake District government. By the end of 2007, the district proposed connecting the entire range of continuous mountains to the west of Hangzhou, creating the Xishan Walking Trail—the longest mountain hiking trail in Hangzhou and the longest in the country.
Since 2007, Zou Junsheng has eagerly gone climbing every time a new section of the Xishan Walking Trail was opened.
The walking trails on Xishan are even more beautiful than those by West Lake. The middle section is paved with bluestone slabs, flanked by cobblestones, and enclosed by high-lake stones on the outer edge, perfectly blending with the surroundings.
Most importantly, the walking trail is flat—elderly climbers no longer need to bring walking sticks, let alone tools to clear paths themselves.
After five years of walking the Xishan Trail, Zou Junsheng realized that this path is not just a mountain trail but more like a “necklace” stringing together various scenic spots hidden within the mountain ranges. Climbing such a mountain truly is a pleasure.
One Person Climbs, the Whole Family Gets Fit
Ever since the Xishan Walking Trail was built, Zou Junsheng goes climbing every day. His increasingly robust health not only delights his family but also earns the envy of fellow villagers.
Originally, Zou Junsheng was in very poor health—he had stomach problems and chronic cholecystitis. His wife often complained, "With someone as frail as you, why even think about climbing mountains?"
Before he started hiking, due to his stomach issues, Zou Junsheng could only manage a small bowl of rice per meal. Now, whenever he gets back from a hike, he devours two bowls of rice with relish and even asks for seconds. During his annual medical checkups, he has no minor ailments at all—even his gastritis and cholecystitis have cleared up.
As a result, his whole family has been inspired by Zou Junsheng. His son, a physical education teacher at an elementary school in Hangzhou, parks his car in Liuxia if he finishes work early and then walks all the way back to Litongwu Village. His daughter, meanwhile, joins the neighborhood aunties every day for line dancing.
His wife is too busy taking care of their grandchildren to go hiking. So their son hired a helper to look after the kids, allowing the elderly couple to pair up and hit the trails together. Zou Junsheng says that over the past five years, as soon as anyone in the family has free time, they head out to the Xishan Hiking Trail—and no one’s come down with a cold.
The elderly in the hiking group are getting younger with each passing year
Now considered the village’s “health icon” in his seventies, Zou Junsheng has inspired more and more seniors to join him on hikes. He and a few friends decided to form the Longwu Hiking Team.
Over the past five years, the Longwu Hiking Team has grown from just five members to over 280, with ages ranging from the 40s to the 70s. The team has also expanded beyond Litongwu Village to include members from Waitongwu Village, Longmenkan Village, Shangchengdai Village... Practically the entire Zhuantang area is now hitting the trails.
Now, with the Xishan Hiking Trail around, everyone heads out to climb when they can. They take in the scenery as they hike, not only passing the time but also—most importantly—improving their fitness year after year.
Over these five years, every time Zhuantang Street organizes health checkups for seniors, those who’ve stayed committed to hiking consistently turn out to be in excellent shape, with no major health issues.
Nowadays, not only locals in Zhuantang are passionate about hiking the Xishan Hiking Trail—even residents from downtown Hangzhou flock there every weekend. The fully connected Xishan Hiking Trail boasts negative oxygen ion levels of around 2,530, and has officially been upgraded to a provincial-level forest park.
Author: Huang Yihan