In the early hours of the 4th, a hiking team of 28 people was trapped in the deep forest of Junzhu Back Mountain in Mawei. After a family member of one of the hikers called the police, the Fujian Mountain Rescue Team, Mawei Junzhu police officers, and firefighters promptly carried out a search and rescue operation, allowing them to exit the forest. Over the past decade, the provincial mountaineering association has carried out over 30 rescue operations, successfully and safely rescuing a total of 386 people. Zhu Shaoming, president of the provincial mountaineering association, revealed, "In June this year, Fujian is expected to establish the nation's third mountain rescue demonstration base, training professional rescuers to protect the safety of Fujian’s more than 5 million hiking enthusiasts."
Many Hikers, Severely Insufficient Rescue Personnel
Many Hikers, Severely Insufficient Rescue Personnel
According to Xu Bixin, captain of the Fujian Jianjian Mountaineering Team who participated in the rescue, he received a search and rescue mission transferred from 110 yesterday morning. He gathered three team members and drove to Junzhu Back Mountain in Mawei. Together with 40 personnel including Mawei Junzhu police officers and firefighters, it took them over two hours to finally locate the hikers who were slowly making their way down the mountain. These hikers had been lost in the deep mountains for nearly five hours, but after being rescued, they did not thank the rescue personnel. It turned out that some of them were former members of the Jianjian Mountaineering Team. Leading the group despite not being very familiar with the terrain and lacking experience in handling emergencies, they refused rescue out of fear of losing face in the industry.
Zhu Shaoming told reporters that in Fuzhou, there are no more than five professional hiking guides who hold either professional qualification certificates issued by the China Mountaineering Association or authoritative department certifications. However, the number of hiking enthusiasts in the province has already exceeded 5 million. "Currently in Fuzhou, there are about 50 rescue personnel, but other areas do not yet have rescue teams. As the number of hikers increases, training professional rescue team members has become extremely urgent."
Base to Be Established in June
On the 4th, at the provincial mountaineering association, reporters met two heavyweight figures: Xucuan, Party Group Secretary of the China Mountaineering Association, and Wang Yongfeng (currently Vice Chairman of the China Mountaineering Association), a major figure in China’s mountaineering sports. According to Xu Zhengguo, director of the Fujian Provincial Sports Bureau, their visit was aimed at inspecting the application qualifications for the "Fujian Mountain Rescue Demonstration Base." Fujian is expected to officially establish the base in June, becoming the nation’s third mountain rescue demonstration base after Shenzhen and Yushu in Qinghai. Xu Zhengguo also stated that the provincial sports bureau will fully support the establishment of the "Mountain Rescue Demonstration Base" in Fuzhou.
At the provincial mountaineering association, reporters saw the under-construction Fujian Mountain Rescue Demonstration Base. Once completed, it will have dormitories and training rooms, where technical training such as climbing, descending, and rescue hoisting under simulated cliff and slope terrains can be conducted. It will also provide the conditions for part-time rescue personnel from approximately 60 mountain rescue points across the province’s counties to come to the base for professional training. Zhu Shaoming expressed his vision: "I hope that in the future, every county will have its own rescue team to protect hiking enthusiasts." After the inspection, Wang Yongfeng also said, "Fujian has so many mountain resources and so many hiking enthusiasts, so it indeed needs professional rescue teams." He told Zhu Shaoming that some team members could be sent to Beijing for training, and he himself could come to Fujian to provide guidance.