China Daily Global Edition (USA)
28-year-old finishes Yangtze walking challenge
After covering around 6,400 kilometers on foot for 352 days, British adventurer Ash Dykes reached the finish line of his Yangtze River challenge in Shanghai on Monday.
The 28-year-old Welsh, who walked the entire length of the river, was welcomed by fans from across the country, and friends and family members from the United Kingdom when he arrived at Nanhuizui Seaside Park, the east end of Shanghai, where the Yangtze, the longer river in China, joins the East China Sea.
“I was born and raised right next to the sea. It’s been a whole year that I have not seen the ocean, maybe the longest in my life,” he said.
His yearlong expedition started from the origin of the river in the uninhabited Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in August 2018, where he overcame temperatures as low as -20 C and an altitude of more than 4,800 meters.
“There were many difficulties. There were the bear, the wolf and the wild yak. There was the difficulty with the terrain — floods, landslides and high altitude,” he said.
“I had to take things day by day, mile by mile, and not look at the big picture, which was 352 days.”
This was by far the longest trip that Dykes has undertaken. He had trekked across Mongolia from east to west in three months in 2014, and across Madagascar from south to north in five months between 2015 and 2016.
According to Dykes, the highlight of his expedition was meeting the local people who helped him and taught him about their culture.
“I was stuck in a blizzard in the plateau. The locals offered me shelter, hot tea and food, protecting me from harsh winds and temperatures,” he said.
Dykes posted photographs and stories about his journey on Chinese social media. A few people even joined him during his treks.
Yang Ruidong, 50, a cross-country runner from Beijing, joined Dykes along with 30 others in March, and they trekked for three days in the mountains near Chongqing in Southwest China.
“I found ‘Little Dykes’ an easygoing person who is optimistic and open-minded. He loves Chinese culture and learns to play mahjong and eat dumplings with us,” said Yang.
Dykes’ father said: “The Yangtze mission is something he always wanted to do. After he went back from his first trip to China when he was only 19, he had said that he would return one day and go on an expedition.”
“Both his mother and I have always supported him,” said Philip Dykes. “I feel relieved as well as excited to see him finish the challenge, but quite concerned about what he’s going to do next.”
Besides the thrill, Dykes undertook the expedition to raise awareness on environment protection.
He has partnered with the World Wildlife Foundation, the China Biodiversity Conservation and the Green Development Foundation to do a series of activities, including releasing endangered Chinese sturgeon fish into the river, and filming the conservation efforts for the Yangtze finless porpoise. The conservation organizations raise the sturgeon fish and release the matured fish into the river.
During his expedition, Dykes always carried a bottle with a filter that allowed him to directly drink the water collected from streams and rivers. This helped him to avoid using plastic bottles.
“I thought I would have negative stories about the human impact on the river, but what I saw was just the opposite,” he said.
He said that he noticed a change in people’s behavior. “They are working with the conservation organizations. The population of those species that were feared to be on the brink of extinction has rather been increasing, especially of the finless porpoise.”
Dykes said when he shared photographs of beautiful nature in China, his overseas friends found it hard to believe. “When they think of China, they think of only big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. They don’t think of the thousands and thousands of miles of pure nature.”
“Despite walking thousands of miles, I feel there is more for me to see.” he said. “I think this is just the beginning. I feel my next mission will still be here in China.”
I had to take things day by day, mile by mile, and not look at the big picture, which was 352 days.” Ash Dykes, British adventurer who walked the entire length of the Yangtze River