The cliff face was nearly vertical, making the descent extremely dangerous. (Photo posted by hiker "Chengji Shizu")
Jiang Hua, a 28-year-old hiker from Fuzhou, recently died in a tragic fall while trekking through the remote areas of the Eighteen Streams. At around 10 a.m. yesterday, dozens of hikers gathered at Fuqing Funeral Home to pay their final respects to Jiang Hua.
"There are about 1.5 million people who engage in outdoor hiking in Fuzhou, but there are only around 50 professionals capable of participating in rescue operations," said Zhu Shaoming, president of the Fujian Mountaineering Association. Jiang Hua’s accident not only left behind a painful lesson but also exposed the lack of a robust regulatory system in the outdoor hiking industry.
Industry insiders pointed out that in recent years, outdoor hiking has developed rapidly, with hikers varying greatly in skill level. Issues such as the difficulty in certifying the professional qualifications of team leaders ("head hikers") and the shortage of professional rescue personnel have become urgent problems that need to be addressed.
Risk Investigation
The entire city’s rescue missions rely on just over 50 people
Zhu Shaoming, president of the Fujian Mountaineering Association and one of the earlier participants in outdoor hiking in Fujian, said that since 1999, the number of hikers in the province has surged from a few hundred to over 5 million. "In another two or three years, the number of outdoor hikers in the province could grow to over 8 million."
He said the rapid development of outdoor hiking in Fujian is mainly due to the province having the highest forest coverage in the country, along with mountains of moderate height, which are suitable for climbing. Additionally, as people's living standards improve, outdoor sports are becoming increasingly popular among citizens. Moreover, there are now over 200 established hiking trails across the province.
Speaking about the current state of the outdoor hiking industry, Zhu Shaoming expressed deep concern. In recent years, incidents of hikers getting lost or encountering accidents during outdoor climbs have occurred frequently. From early February this year alone, there have been over ten cases of hikers getting lost, three of which they have been involved in rescuing.
"Training professional rescue personnel and team leaders is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed," said Zhu Shaoming. The provincial mountaineering association has over 50 professional volunteer rescuers who have rescued more than 400 hikers over the past decade.
According to incomplete statistics, there are currently over 1.5 million hikers in Fuzhou, and relying solely on this volunteer rescue team of just over 50 people to handle the city’s rescue tasks is, in Zhu Shaoming’s view, extremely challenging.
"Experienced hikers are bold and fearless; novice hikers are ignorant and fearless"
Yesterday afternoon, a hiker with many years of climbing experience said that outdoor hikers can be divided into three main categories: first, members of clubs, who mostly have outdoor experience and are led by professionals; second, those who meet online through shared interests and spontaneously form groups, some of whom have never even met in person, traveling on an AA basis without professional guidance and deciding their routes themselves; and the third category consists of outdoor sports associations at universities, such as cycling, hiking, and trekking clubs.
The hiker said that compared to joining a travel agency, these three types of hikers spend less money and have more fun. However, because most interactions happen online and people know little about each other, coupled with unfamiliarity with the routes and a lack of professional emergency response skills, accidents can easily occur.
Additionally, he said, the outdoor skills of team leaders vary greatly, and some outdoor alliances are formed by just a few like-minded hikers and lack proper credentials.
Axin from the Provincial Mountaineering Rescue Team stated that the biggest safety hazard in outdoor activities is experienced hikers being overly bold and fearless, while novices are ignorant and fearless. Moreover, most hikers in Fuzhou, and even some team leaders, currently have very poor self-rescue abilities. Once an accident occurs, chaos often ensues, leaving them reliant on outside rescue.
He gave an example: in the event of a cliff fall in the wild, the correct approach is to improvise a stretcher from available materials to carry the injured person out of the mountains, rather than attempting amateurish measures like carrying them in a jolting manner or performing CPR.
Axin believes that many hikers now have a mistaken notion that group travel is safer because there are more people. However, in reality, for safe and regulated outdoor trips, no team leader should take more than six people. If the group is too large and the leader’s capabilities are limited, unexpected situations can not only hinder the group’s movement but also make individual safety management much more difficult.
There are currently no more than five qualified team leaders in the whole province
Zhu Shaoming said that in Fuzhou alone, there are over 40 unauthenticated and unregistered outdoor alliances, while truly formal outdoor alliances must be certified by the Administration for Industry and Commerce or approved by the Provincial Department of Civil Affairs. Each city can have only one alliance of this nature.
Although there is official certification, the current law does not clearly define the professional qualifications required for team leaders and guides in formal outdoor alliances. Most outdoor activity leaders currently refer to obtaining certification as an outdoor guide from the China Mountaineering Association as a benchmark qualification.
Zhu Shaoming said that outdoor guides, as team leaders, possess professional qualities such as overall risk assessment, safety protection, and emotional control of team members. Currently, there are no more than five people in the province who have obtained outdoor guide qualifications.
He suggested that hiking enthusiasts, when joining activities, should check whether the organizer is an individual or a club, preferably meet in person to confirm, and establish a written agreement outlining the rights and obligations of both parties.
He said that hikers should try to choose organizations certified or authorized by the Provincial Sports Bureau for outdoor travel, and should also check whether their activity fees include personal insurance. Furthermore, if hikers are truly passionate about outdoor sports, they should undergo professional outdoor survival training at certified institutions to learn self-rescue and how to protect others.
Government Action
Our province’s mountain rescue base will be established in June this year
Training courses will be offered at that time to make team leaders and guides more professional
The safety of hikers should not rely solely on strengthening the rescue team; prevention is equally important. Hikers should come prepared, and team leaders and guides should be more professional.
Yesterday, reporters learned from the Provincial Mountaineering Association that the nation’s third Mountain Rescue Demonstration Base has been established in Fuzhou and is currently under intensive preparation. It has already received approval from the Provincial Sports Commission and has been submitted to the China Mountaineering Association for review. It is expected to be officially inaugurated in June this year. At that time, a nationally accredited mountaineering rescue training course will commence at the Mawei Kuiqi Mountain Rescue Base in Fuzhou. Registration is now open, targeting mountain rescue volunteers aged 15–55 across the province, outdoor alliance leaders, and the general hiking community.
Zhu Shaoming explained that after the establishment of the Mountain Rescue Demonstration Base, Wang Yongfeng, former captain of the national mountaineering team, will personally give lectures. Volunteers will also be selected from local guides in key provincial scenic areas such as the Eighteen Streams and Wuyishan for free training.
In addition, volunteers will be chosen from among trained hikers and local guides to form a professional outdoor rescue team equipped with specialized rescue skills across the province.
Zhu Shaoming stated that outdoor alliance leaders who have not yet obtained qualification certification can receive a professional leader qualification certificate if they pass the assessment through professional training, thereby improving the overall safety of hikers during outdoor expeditions.
Related News
14 Terrifying Hours in the Heart of the Eighteen Streams
Hiker Posts “We Were Pushed to the Limit”
On the day after the hiking accident in the Eighteen Streams, a hiker named “Chengji Shizu” posted on a forum describing his harrowing 14-hour experience while trekking through the heart of the Eighteen Streams on March 17. In the post, he claimed he encountered an “incomprehensible leader who disregarded the safety of the team and only sought thrills,” resulting in 16 hikers being “pushed to the limit.”
The post detailed the adventure, stating that the group had planned to enter via Guanyin Bridge, pass through Golden Melon Rock and Zhiyin Waterfall, and eventually exit through the main entrance of the Eighteen Streams Scenic Area. “Every team that takes this route is required to have comprehensive shared and personal gear—those without proper equipment are not allowed to join. But this time, the 16 people only brought three headlamps, a few flashlights, and two outdoor ropes, and still undertook high-risk activities such as hiking, rock climbing, and rappelling.”
Netizens described the trek as follows: “The pitch-black night revealed only flickering headlamps and flashlights. The dimly lit cliffs terrified everyone, where one misstep could lead to a fatal fall. From time to time, you could hear team members shouting loudly at each other. One female member was so scared she burst into tears and refused to climb over a huge boulder at the edge of the cliff. Everyone was on edge, climbing moss-covered cliffs in hiking boots. Although the hikers were usually quite capable, today they were utterly miserable—clothes torn, pants ripped, shoes broken, bodies injured.”
“All of this wasn’t for the thrill, not to show off how strong we were, nor to take risks and play with death. We were simply passively pushed into danger by others.” The netizen recalled that after shakily sliding down a slope about 300 meters long, they finally reached safety. From entering the Eighteen Streams around 9 a.m. until exiting after 11 p.m., those 14 hours felt like a fight for survival.
Later, a reporter confirmed with another hiker present that the online post was accurate. The team leader at the time was a boy born in 1989. Although he was diligent throughout the process, some hikers were unfamiliar with the local environment and trails and did not carry proper gear, leading to some oversights. This experience left her deeply shaken.