The American who is madly in love with China’s rivers

When Travis Winn first came to China 16 years ago with his father, a veteran rafter and geologist, he was instantly captivated by the grandeur of China’s rivers, and thus began his obsession with the waterways in the country.

“I was shocked by their beauty. I never expected China to have such amazing rivers. I’ve always been attracted to the power of flowing water, but there is something extra special about rivers here,” said the 32-year-old.

From 2000 to 2015, Winn led or participated in over 200 trips down China’s rivers, including 45 first descents. He has explored over 5,000 kilometers of China’s rivers and logged an additional 10,000 kilometers on repeat voyages to favorite sections.

Chinese society has for a long time been one that has a stronger disposition toward mountains and fields instead of rivers because agriculture is the way of life for millions of people. Furthermore, the Sino-US joint rafting expenditure in 1986, which claimed the lives of 11 people, gave many locals the impression that the activity was a dangerous one.

“I grew up floating down rivers in the western US. It surprised me that no one in China seemed interested to explore or go close to the river,” said Winn.

“To me, rafting is huge fun and I’ve rarely felt it was life threatening. Even if you don’t have any experience or training, under the guidance of professionals on the right section of river, anyone can come to enjoy the river.”

At the urging of outdoor enthusiasts in Sichuan province in 2003, Winn, who at the time had 20 years of experience in rafting, decided that he would start organizing trips for Chinese citizens to get on their rivers.

Three years later, he established Last Descents, a company that specializes in river expeditions. Last Descents is today a registered company of five staff based in Beijing.

“I named it Last Descents because I knew that many of the rivers we were running would soon disappear behind dams. I was hoping the name would create a sense of urgency and encourage more people to come outside and see these wild places, and that maybe as they did some of the rivers would be protected,” said Winn.

Having been in China for so long, the American has come to witness the major changes in not just the landscape but also how society have come to understand the need to protect nature. He noted that the Chinese government has changed policies around watersports to encourage greater participation, even setting up university programs to promote the activities.

In addition, Winn said that government officials today are looking for ways to develop their waterways for tourism and enjoyment, which is a huge departure from the development model of the past.

“There has been a huge change. Before, local governments did not support rafting as they thought it was dangerous. Now, after having acknowledged the importance of rivers, they are coming forward to cooperate with us.”

Currently, Winn is involved in the planning phase of the Lancangjiang National Park in Qinghai province. The opportunity came up when a local leader interested in conservation joined a rafting trip and recognized the value of the activity to the local area.

Born into a family of rafters in Salt Lake City, Winn has been rafting since he was five and piloted his own kayak through the Grand Canyon at the age of 13.

When asked about the difference in rivers between the US and China, he said that many factors, including the gradient, volume, geology, and topography of each river canyon all come together to impact whether or not a river is safe for rafting. This can change throughout the year as rainfall or snowmelt impacts the volume of the river.

“The section of the Yangtze River from Batang to Dege on the border of Sichuan province is especially dangerous, due to the high gradient, high volume, hard rock geology and huge mountains on each side of the river,” said Winn.

Complicating things further is the fact that the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau where the upper level of the Yangtze River passes through is still geographically active, which means it is prone to earthquakes and landslides.

In 2008, Winn met Li Weiyi, who was inspired by Winn’s vision of “bringing Chinese to visit their mother rivers”. She quit her real estate job in Guangzhou of Guangdong province to work together with him, neither of them knowing at the time that their shared vision would lead to a personal relationship.

Winn and Li married in early 2016. To date, Winn has brought several hundred Chinese including many children rafting in the country.

“Currently we focus on bringing children to the river, knowing that if they fall in love with rivers and enjoy growing up on rivers, it will benefit them immediately and maybe also benefit China in the long term,” said Winn.