The rocks are steep as police rescue stranded tourists.
On the afternoon of December 25, to celebrate Christmas, Mr. Yin from Dongying joined three friends including Mr. Tang from the Development Zone to climb Xiaozhu Mountain. To make the holiday more challenging and fun, the four decided to split into two teams and race to see who could reach Bodhi Temple first. The group that took the normal mountain path arrived without issue, but the duo in Mr. Yin’s group who tried to take a shortcut ended up trapped on a mountainside. In an emergency, they called for help, police responded, and by around 6 p.m., Mr. Yin and his companion were safely rescued.
Two trapped while four hike Xiaozhu Mountain
On December 25, Mr. Yin traveled from Dongying to Qingdao’s Development Zone to spend Christmas with friends including Mr. Tang and three others. After lunch, the four decided to hike Xiaozhu Mountain. Mr. Tang told reporters that at around 3 p.m. that day, the group arrived at the foot of Xiaozhu Mountain. “One of us, Xia Wang (a pseudonym), enjoys rock climbing. When we got to the foot of the mountain, she suggested splitting into two groups and racing to see who could reach Bodhi Temple first,” Mr. Tang said. He and his friend Mr. Li formed one team, while Xia Wang teamed up with Mr. Yin from Dongying. For safety, Mr. Tang’s group took the official trail and soon reached Bodhi Temple.
“Xia Wang and her friend took a shortcut up the mountain, but for some reason never made it to Bodhi Temple.” Sensing something was wrong, Mr. Tang called Xia Wang, and through intermittent signals in the mountains, he learned that Xia Wang and Mr. Yin were trapped. He and his friend quickly went looking for them. After climbing several rugged paths, Mr. Tang spotted from afar that the two who had taken the shortcut were stuck halfway up a mountainside—the slope was extremely steep, leaving the pair stuck with no way forward or back. With no cell signal there, Mr. Tang later ran down the mountain to call the police.
Police form rescue team to assist
At 3:42 p.m. on December 25, the 110 Command Center of Huangdao Public Security Bureau received a distress call from Mr. Tang. After receiving the report, Zhang Hai, the head of Lingzhu Mountain Police Station, organized a rescue team while contacting the caller via phone to determine the location of the stranded hikers. Soon, a rescue team consisting of six police officers and eight community defense members, equipped with rescue gear, quickly headed for Xiaozhu Mountain.
“Around 4 p.m., the police arrived at Futaizhong (the name of a mountain peak) within the scenic area and found the two trapped tourists.” Based on Mr. Tang’s description, police from Lingzhu Mountain Police Station identified a mountain peak called Futaizhong. It is understood that Futaizhong is over 80 meters high, a standalone rocky mountain with a steep incline and surfaces smoothed by weathering. “This peak is easy to climb up, but gets harder the higher you go—tourists often get stuck partway up and can’t get down,” police at Lingzhu Mountain Police Station explained, noting this is not the first time hikers have been trapped on this peak.
Police scale mountain, secure ropes to rescue
Just as the police were preparing to begin the rescue, forest rangers Uncle Liu and Uncle Zhang also arrived at the scene. The two experienced rangers advised the police that the best approach was to climb to the summit first and then drop a rope down, allowing the trapped hikers to descend step-by-step along it.
The 80-meter slope took the police and community defense members nearly 40 minutes to climb. “Once at the top, we secured the rope to rocks at the summit, then climbed down the rope to where the trapped tourists were and helped them down,” a police officer involved in the rescue said.
It is reported that due to an injury to Mr. Yin’s hand, to ensure his safe descent, two community defense members flanked him—one in front and one behind—and supported him as they walked down a mountain path for about two hours before bringing him to safety. “Mr. Yin had suffered a tendon rupture in two fingers of his left hand about a fortnight ago and still had thick bandages with limited mobility,” the police explained.
Around 6 p.m. that evening, the two trapped tourists were successfully rescued. After descending, police from Lingzhu Mountain Police Station redressed Mr. Yin’s finger, and then escorted all four back to their accommodation.