On the morning of March 8, a traveler wearing large-framed glasses, holding a Chinese map in his hand, and carrying a large backpack walked briskly along the Huibo Riverside Highway (from downtown Huizhou to Boluo County). His name is Jin Shiming, 60 years old. Since August 16, 2005, he has hiked over 70,000 kilometers across China, visiting 1,875 counties, and plans to spend another three years traveling to all more than 2,000 counties in the country to break a Guinness World Record. He is known as the "No. 1 Walker of China" and the "Chinese Forrest Gump," and Boluo County has become the 1,876th county he has visited.
First Visit to Huizhou, Footprints Spanning the Nation Over Seven Years
Although he is in his sixties, Jin Shiming gives off an energetic and robust impression upon first meeting. However, due to wearing 1,000-degree myopia glasses, he has to lower his head quite far to read text.
When talking about his astonishing hiking journey, Jin Shiming took out a Chinese map and a thick notebook he carries with him, which mark the routes he has taken in each province he has passed through: along China’s borders from the northwest to the southwest, then along the coast to the Beijing-Tianjin area, then southward from Mohe in Heilongjiang to Dongyuan County in Heyuan City, and now to Huizhou and Boluo County...
Jin Shiming told reporters that to fulfill the wish of traveler Yu Chunshun, who trekked solo across China, he set out from his hometown of Fukang City, Xinjiang on August 16, 2005. After nearly seven years, he had traveled to 1,875 counties across 23 provinces, 4 municipalities directly under the central government, and 5 autonomous regions, covering a distance of more than 70,000 kilometers. This trip to Huizhou was his first ever.
Taking Two Official Seals from Each County, Setting Off with the Blessings of Good Samaritans
It is understood that Jin Shiming was born in 1952, with both parents being doctors. Since childhood, he learned traditional family fitness exercises from them, and to this day, these exercises remain a daily routine for him before sleep and after waking up. During the Cultural Revolution, due to family changes, he lost his parents and, left with no support, hitchhiked to Xinjiang by train and became a coal miner.
Jin Shiming said that because he has loved sports since childhood, he had the idea of trekking across the country over 20 years ago. He always wanted to traverse the whole nation but didn’t have the time due to work commitments. After retiring, he fulfilled this dream and hoped to create a Guinness World Record through this method.
"You might not know, but because I walk every day, for decades I’ve never taken any medicine or been sick—even in the dead of winter, I don’t need to wear thermal pants," Jin Shiming told reporters. Aside from losing sight in his left eye and having 1,000-degree myopia in his right eye due to an accident while working as a miner, he has not suffered from any other illnesses to date.
On March 7, he arrived at Dongyuan County in Heyuan City wearing his 56th pair of sports shoes since beginning his journey, and then came to Huizhou, preparing to enter his 1,876th county yesterday. "I’ve never been married and have no family ties. Coupled with my good health, long-distance walking isn’t difficult. But being able to keep going until today is also thanks to the help of warm-hearted people along the way," Jin Shiming said. When he met Mr. Lu near Jiangbei Stadium, he only had 5 yuan left and was worried about food and accommodation, but the kind-hearted Mr. Lu not only helped him find the Huizhou Federation of Trade Unions and the Sports Bureau, but also arranged food and lodging for him.
"Mr. Lu told me that to get from the city to Boluo County, I could take the Huibo Riverside Highway—it’s faster!" Jin Shiming said. He plans to spend another three years completing visits to all 2,500 counties in the country, and in each county, he will collect two official seals: one from the trade union and one from the sports bureau.
During the interview, Jin Shiming specially showed reporters his 17th notebook, which is not only stamped with the “two official seals” from all the counties he has visited, but also contains many blessings left by good-hearted people like Mr. Lu. These 17 notebooks are also what Jin Shiming is most proud of.
After Completing Mainland China, He’ll Travel to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and Joins Marathons in Between
The hardships of hiking and the loneliness along the way are unimaginable to most people, but Jin Shiming enjoys it. He said he hikes at least 40 kilometers every day. When alone on the road and with no one to talk to, he counts his steps—one hour equals 6 kilometers, and one kilometer equals 1,200 steps. These are figures he has counted during his lonely walks.
Jin Shiming told reporters that after finishing his walk in Boluo County yesterday, he would head toward Zengcheng, complete the unfinished parts of Maoming and Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province, then head south to Hainan Island, followed by Qinghai, Gansu, Tibet, and Xinjiang. After completing all the counties in these provinces and regions, he will have walked through all the counties within mainland China.
It is reported that while using his feet to "measure" the land of China, Jin Shiming also actively promotes the spirit of sports to passersby, advocating healthy exercise and low-carbon living. In the online world, he has been dubbed the "Olympics Enthusiast" by netizens, and he has also “squeezed in time” to participate in five international marathons. Notably, in March 2007, he achieved second place in the senior group at the Xiamen International Marathon.
"It will probably take another three years to complete all the cities in the country. After finishing the mainland, I plan to rest for two years and also save up money for two years. I also want to visit Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan," Jin Shiming said. He added that if he didn’t complete his journey to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, it would be a lifelong regret.
On the morning of the 8th, after about half an hour of the interview, Jin Shiming waved goodbye to the reporter, shouldered his approximately 10-kilogram backpack, and strode briskly toward his next destination—Boluo County.