Haibin Park is a beautiful, romantic spot beloved by couples for dates. What we left behind there wasn’t just footprints but also memories. The Fisher Girl statue is, after all, an iconic symbol of Zhuhai. At 5 PM on October 20, 2013, our whole crew boarded the bus headed for the destination. On the bus, we shared feedback from last year’s event, exchanged “battle” strategies, and cheered loudly: “Red Bull, here we come!”
“Energy Storm, City Sharing.” As seasoned participants of the Zhong-Zhu Hiking event, we have a particularly keen sense of map reading. The moment we got the maps, we immediately held a team meeting to analyze the route and discuss the shortest and fastest path. This event featured a total of 15 tasks—the first six were photo challenges requiring team members to pose together at designated scenic spots and then upload the photos to the official Guangzhou Red Bull Weibo account. For us locals, this posed no difficulty. But the next eight were fill-in-the-blank questions, which required athletes with strong stamina to search for the answers. Our biggest concern, however, was assembling the “Red Bull Energy Ball.” Unlike regular cross-country orienteering or hiking events, urban orienteering is less complex and challenging in terms of navigation, but it involves solving “treasure hunt” problems related to city details or IQ puzzles at each task point. This makes it difficult to estimate how long each task will take, demanding extra attention and detail-oriented gameplay from participants—somewhat like a scavenger hunt. Beyond physical ability, it requires teamwork, strategic thinking, and analytical skills. As such, the first team to depart isn’t necessarily the winner—that’s precisely what makes this event so exciting.
With last year’s experience under our belts, careful route planning and team role assignments were crucial. At the starter’s signal, we dashed straight toward our first target: the Zhuhai Fisher Girl statue.
Upon reaching the Fisher Girl, some curious tourists asked us what we were doing. The simplest and most straightforward answer was: “We’re doing a Red Bull orienteering event—we’re treasure hunting!” Haha, the tourists stared at us in surprise as we held up the “Red Bull Trophy,” even snapping photos of our amusing antics. We became a vibrant, moving sight along the way.
The area in front of the Fisher Girl was packed with orienteering participants taking photos. Everyone was fully immersed in the activity, and we were determined not to fall behind.
Second stop: Yeli Island and Deyuefang. The distance from the Fisher Girl to Yeli Island is around three kilometers. Our four-member team ran the whole way and made it in just 20 minutes. As veterans of the “Zhong-Zhu 55K Inter-city Hike,” such physical demands were nothing for us—in fact, they played right into our strengths. Our advantages in route planning, directional sense, and stamina became key assets during the event. Of course, we also saw many other participants persistently running or walking, giving their all to compete.
At Deyuefang, we took photos and felt that the place looked even more stunning under the moonlight (how could it not, after running 20 minutes to see it?). With its Chinese palace-inspired architecture, the pavilions glowed gloriously golden at night, complemented by the breathtaking sea view—it was the perfect luxurious nighttime scene to rival the Fisher Girl. While hiking or orienteering events usually showcase daytime scenery, navigating through this urban jungle of steel and concrete at night, exploring familiar corners of the city, and discovering Zhuhai’s nighttime beauty offered a fresh visual experience.
Next up was the question-and-answer segment. Fortunately, our team had brought walkie-talkies, so we split into pairs to search for the answers. After studying the map, asking pedestrians A, B, C, and D, the process turned out to be quite exhausting. While searching for an answer about “air defense,” I mistakenly wandered into the Shijing Shan Hotel. As I shone my flashlight around, two security guards rushed over and asked, “Hey, what are you doing?” I showed them the map and explained my mission. They then told me that the answers could be found through the underground pedestrian passage beneath the duty-free mall. Phew, lucky they didn’t mistake me for a thief and were kind enough to help. Thank you, guys.
Then we arrived at Wanzai Sha, where two points—the Xinhua Bookstore and Oxford Street—were located close to each other. We joked, “After reading books, we’ll go bullfighting,” because the event required us to strike book-reading poses and act out bullfighting moves. Haha, truly a perfect example of how the Red Bull Night Urban Orienteering blends street culture and photography in a novel and creative way. This made it far more charming than traditional orienteering events.
Fifth stop (the statue of Su Zhaozheng): It was rather dark here, but luckily we had our flashlights. We bowed in front of the statue and took commemorative photos. Suddenly, a thought struck me: Su Zhaozheng probably never imagined that, on this night, so many people would bow to him and take photos together. Checking the date, it wasn’t even his death anniversary, haha—I chuckled quietly to myself. Alright, no time for childish thoughts. I bowed too, then ran off to the next station.
Next came the most nerve-wracking and frustrating challenge: assembling the Red Bull Energy Ball. None of our four-person team had any expertise in this. Perhaps a teacher, student, or child would’ve fared better than any of us. As a result, this task took us the longest. After much effort, we finally figured out the assembly trick and completed this massive challenge. At the very least, I felt it took longer than writing a meeting summary or activity proposal. With the task done, we stamped our card and said goodbye to the “Red Bull Energy Ball,” which had been with us for over an hour. As we walked on, I reflected—if only we’d managed to assemble the energy ball more quickly, we might’ve had more time for the remaining tasks. Sometimes, that’s just how life is: our team had the stamina of “Red Bull,” but not the wisdom to build the energy ball. Life isn’t always fair—there are no perfect people.
Regrouping, we pressed on toward the final stop (Department Store Plaza). With the finish line in sight, we pushed ourselves, using every bit of stamina to make up for lost time. This was a task we had done the previous year, so we quickly located the spot and snapped our photos at record speed before uploading them to the official Guangzhou Red Bull Weibo account.
Incidentally, the photo tasks also led us to recreate various life-sized figurines of Zhuhai’s cultural scenes—a fun, living tribute, haha.
The final task was reaching the endpoint, exchanging our forms for Red Bull at the energy station, and then rushing to scan a massive QR code. In fact, we had already spotted the huge balloon energy station and giant QR code sculpture in Haibin Park before setting off. Regular QR codes are a dime a dozen, but seeing a 2-meter-tall QR code was a first for all of us. Without hesitation, we swapped our forms for Red Bull and headed straight for the QR code to complete the task.
Racing toward the finish line together to submit our forms and claim our prizes!!!
Back at the endpoint, we filled out the remaining answers: the average score for 15 challenges was 5, the parts were..., and so on. Haha, all done—submitted the form, claimed the gift!!
This orienteering event tested not only route-planning skills and physical endurance but also each member’s wits. This time, we slipped up by not bringing someone with strong hands-on abilities. But then again, would someone skilled in operations be able to run for two hours straight? That remains a question. Either way, I learned a lot from this experience, enriching my life.
This style of nighttime urban orienteering is genuinely captivating and full of charm. Next year, I’ll be back—and aim to perform even better. The Red Bull Night Urban Orienteering gave us not just thrills, but also a deep sense of team spirit and reflection on life. Throughout the race, we witnessed participants’ unwavering pursuit of their dreams and felt the care and encouragement among teammates.
Enough sharing from me—I should introduce myself. I’m the member of the B002 team mentioned above.
Finally, here’s a group photo capturing the perfect memories of this event. Thanks to Red Bull for giving me such joyful memories.