Li Xueling walks in front of the ruins of a Great Wall beacon tower
Key points: Li Xueling, from Guoyuan Village, Xiamei Town, Nan’an, was admitted to Jinan University two years ago. This summer vacation, she joined dozens of university students on a 31-day trek along the ancient Great Wall ruins from Jiayuguan, Gansu, to Hexi Fort Town, Jinchang City, Gansu—a total distance of 587 kilometers. They ate flatbread with pickles when hungry, drank well water or tap water when thirsty, and slept in tents at night. Along the way, they not only enjoyed the scenery of northwest China, toughened their willpower, but also received warmth and kindness from the people they met.
The journey: showering only once a month, blisters that burst and healed again
On July 17, after careful preparation, she and her companions from over ten universities across the country shouldered backpacks weighing 20 to 30 kilograms and set off on their Great Wall trek.
The group consisted of 70 people divided into five sub-teams responsible for route scouting, documentation, decision-making, food procurement and distribution, and emergency medicine. To build mental resilience, the team maintained strict discipline: when hungry, they could only eat the flatbread and pickles purchased and distributed uniformly; when thirsty, they drank tap water or well water from villagers’ homes along the way; when tired, they rested together in tents.
Although she had mentally prepared herself well, the dry climate of the northwest combined with an average daily hike of over 20 kilometers still proved challenging for Xueling, who came from the south. Within two days, blisters formed on the soles of her feet. In the days that followed, the blisters burst and reformed repeatedly. Her teammates jokingly called her the “Blister Queen,” but she gritted her teeth and persevered until the end.
Every day at 5:30 a.m., before dawn, they would get up and hit the road. Although the sun was strong, temperatures in the northwest mostly ranged between 18°C and 30°C, so it wasn’t unbearably hot. Once, on a rainy night, the temperature dropped to just 13°C, and the team members shivered as they slept.
Water is scarce in the northwest. Some villages the group passed through had scheduled water supply, and villagers kept multiple large water barrels at home. Along the entire journey, they only took one shower at a villager’s home, and most of the time they couldn’t even brush their teeth.
Sights and encounters: villagers offer fruits along the way, stunning scenery everywhere
Most people think of the west as vast desolate Gobi Desert, but that’s not the case. Along the way, Xueling and her companions passed through large fields of corn, watermelon, tomatoes, sunflowers, and vineyards—the scenery was breathtaking. A melon farmer, upon hearing about their journey, was so impressed that he picked more than ten watermelons from his field to give them for hydration.
It’s often said that the northwest isn’t economically developed, but some villages Xueling passed through had built villas equipped with color TVs, refrigerators, computers, and air conditioners. She said you have to go there to see the true northwest.
The warmth and simplicity of the people in the northwest moved them. In Changfeng Village, Gaotai County, Gansu, a doctor from the local clinic came to their campsite to give the team members health check-ups and even provided them with medicine. A flatbread vendor, not wanting the hikers to go hungry, braved a sandstorm to deliver homemade bread to them. The amount of fruits they received along the way—watermelons, cucumbers, cantaloupes, grapes—was too numerous to count. Even in water-scarce areas where tap water was only available for one hour a day, villagers never refused them when they came to fetch water.
Gains: walking the ancient Great Wall, strengthening willpower
On August 16, they finally arrived at Hexi Fort Town, Jinchang City, Gansu. Over those 31 days, they walked a total of 587 kilometers, passing through 8 towns and 83 villages. The 70 participants consumed 1.49 tons of flatbread, 198 pounds of pickles, and 680 pounds of various vegetables.
The Great Wall has stood firmly on Chinese soil for two thousand years, embodying the hard work and wisdom of the ancients. But when she saw the once-majestic Great Wall damaged by both human and natural forces, she began thinking about how to protect the Wall and the surrounding ecology.
Xueling said that the strict discipline along the way helped everyone build endurance and resilience; the sights and experiences made these young people more responsible and mature.