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Xiao Guai [Photo: Women of China] |
Xiao Guai, a 20-year-old student at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, worked like a Tazmanian devil (the highly energetic cartoon character who zips all over the place at blazing speed) selling goods in a supermarket and tutoring a high school student in a math. After several months, she had saved enough money to pay for the trip.
In May, she began to recruit like-minded people to accompany her. Xiao originally recruited five men and two women. A short time before their departure, the mother of one woman objected to the trip and ripped her daughter's plane ticket. The other woman didn't show up and didn't contact the group. In the end, Xiao made the trip to Lhasa with the five men.
Searious reaction
During the journey from Sichuan to Tibet, they witnessed the ancient trade channel which was called the Tea-Horse Road, Xindu Bridge and the treacherous Lancang River.
Her reaction to the altitude was the greatest test for Xiao. Zheduo Mountain was the group's first real challenge. Although the trip over the mountain was only 33 kilometers, the altitude rose to 1,800 meters.
Early in the morning of July 20, the group departed from Kangding (a county in Sichuan). The cyclists rode uphill all the way (they did not walk their bikes), and they were soon exhausted and out of breath. One teammate alw3ays stayed with Xiao to give her encouragement.
"We went by fits and starts, and we stopped to breathe every few minutes," Xiao recalls.
After she rejoined the other four teammates, who had gone on ahead, at the top of the mountain, Xiao could not help but cry.
Unfortunately, Xiao had a nosebleed after she started crying. The other members of the team gave her some tissue and patted her helmet. It had been an arduous journey to that point, and there were still 11 mountains ahead.
After they crossed Zheduo Mountain, Xindu Bridge was in front of them. Xindu Bridge, set against a blue sky, white clouds, tall white poplars and rolling hills, would be heaven for any photographer. For the cyclists, it was hell !
"Road conditions at Xindu Bridge were a complete mess. It had rained for several days, the road had become a big mire and trucks roared past now and then," Xiao recalls.
Outpost with stories
They stopped at Yake Outpost for a rest. The outpost has long been referred to as "a heaven for travelers."
The outpost had all the necessary facilities and the team could surf the Internet, wash their clothes and clean their bikes.
The 34-year-old owner of the motel said he arrived in the area many years before, he immediately fell in love with the place and decided not to leave.
Lift
The hills ahead created a physical test for the cyclists, but opting not to use the lift was a spiritual test. Many cyclists opt for the lift rather than endure the hardships.
Xiao was first tempted to take the lift after she completed the trip across Kazila Mountain, which has an altitude of 4,718 meters.
Nature provided Xiao and her companions with some breathtakingly beautiful scenes. Most of the time, she felt like she was cycling in the clouds, and she often reached out to touch the clouds.
Xiao decided to take the lift to cross Dongda Mountain, at 5,008 meters, and enter Zougong (a county in Tibet), at 3,877 meters.
Along the way, it rained heavily and Xiao and her traveling mates were soaked from head to foot. Road conditions were terrible and the cyclists often found themselves wading through water.
Around this time, Xiao began to feel pain. Not willing to give up, she decided to use the lift. While riding the lift to Zougong, Xiao was not interested in the scenery because she longed to be on her bike,. As long as she sat on the lift, she thought, the scenery had nothing to do with her.
In Lhasa
August 9 was the last day of Xiao's journey to Tibet. She and her companions got up at 6 am and headed off. After having traveled for more than 20 days, their journey was going to have the perfect ending.
Xiao was excited and shouted the distance of the last leg of their journey. She did not care about a reaction to the altitude.
" Lahsa, I am coming! Lhasa, wait for me!" she yelled as she neared Tibet's capital. Xiao and her companions arrived around 6 pm. |
