In the team of 1200 people, Gao Qi, a freshman, walked at the front. At this time, the Gobi belongs to him alone, and the eyes are endless. The desert is connected with the desert, and there is no trace of human beings. Only the road sign flag is blown up by the wind.
At his feet, a thick layer of sand covered the hard gravel, and his walking shoes rustled. He felt open and excited. But this is only the mood within ten minutes after he set foot on the Gobi. The rest of the time, he was surrounded by another strong feeling: "Being cheated."
He participated in the "Yixing China 2019 Summer National College Students Gobi Challenge" which gathered 1,000 students. Because of the lack of filing, poor rescue support, and insufficient medical personnel and medicines, the organizers of the event were questioned by the participating students that there were many loopholes in management and safety.
The anxiety reached its climax on the night of August 1, and some contestants reported to the police between 10 and 12 o’clock that night. On August 5th, this incident was reported by the media, which caused public concern. The title of "1200 college students lost their way in Gobi, with only seven organizers" was circulated on the Internet, and most of the comments were directed at the participating students — — "Waste of public resources" and "no brains".
Rumors shattered the quiet life of these young students.
It should have been a self-challenging journey, but it has evolved into a dangerous rehearsal, exposing the risks and hidden dangers behind the popular "Gobi Walking".
Gobi hiking
On July 31, the night before hiking, Gao Qi lay down early and rested, and shrank into his sleeping bag.
On the concrete playground of Dunhuang No.2 Middle School, there are tents and backpacks of students from universities all over the world, and they are talking and laughing noisily.
Gao Qi can’t sleep. The weather in Dunhuang in July is sultry and the ground is hot. His mind is still thinking about the meeting an hour ago — — The person in charge of the activity, a thin and small man, stood on the rostrum and promised in a high-pitched voice: when you arrive at the camp, you will have a signal car, medicine, water and doctors on foot, and we will ensure everyone’s safety.
He is more concerned about the entry statement signed after the meeting, which says that if personal or property damage occurs during the competition, he will claim compensation from the insurance company independently. This document is not notarized by a third party and has no official seal. He feels strange: Isn’t this the overlord clause? He asked in the group of contestants, and some students replied, "If you don’t sign, you can’t participate in the activity, and you won’t refund the fee."
The entry statement signed by the organizer and the contestants before the competition.
Gao Qi likes adventure, and originally expected to challenge himself in this hike. Before college, he was concentrating on studying and preparing for the college entrance examination. After entering the university, he wants to try to do different things during this period. Now, worry has replaced expectation.
On the other side, in a blue tent, Luo Jia from Guangdong sleeps with expectation. She should save enough energy to walk 36 kilometers in the desert tomorrow.
In June, she saw the information of this activity in a WeChat official account called "Volunteer Travel for College Students". The article was titled "Recruit 1000 people in the summer vacation and camp together on foot for 30 kilometers across the desert starry sky!" The organizer of the event is the Newth Youth Cultural Community. The review materials at the end of the term made her feel groggy. She liked sports activities. When she saw it, she felt refreshed and "interesting", so she signed up with her classmates.
The Gobi environment was special, and her parents didn’t agree at first, so she showed them all the materials and documents — — The participating students have received a unified reply from the Organizing Committee to some contestants’ questions, which shows that medical care is complete, and rescue vehicles, professional doctors and blue sky rescue team members are all included in the team’s protection.
Poster for Gobi Challenge Promotion
Before the competition, the Organizing Committee should give a unified reply to some contestants’ questions, which showed that the medical insurance was complete.
This information reassured Luo Jia and her parents. In addition, she also received "government documents": a countersignature "Letter on Inviting to Participate in" Yixing China 2019 China University Students Gobi Challenge "shows that the co-organizers of this event include Gansu UNESCO Association and others.
This Gobi Challenge is aimed at convening ordinary college students. Li Zicheng, the person in charge of the event and one of the founders of Newth, said that they want to hold a "public welfare type challenge", so the registration fee for a single person is only 499 yuan. Newth has never held a Gobi hiking type activity before.
"The Dunhuang Gobi Trekking started from Xuanzang Road. At that time, it was mainly aimed at students from major business schools and EMBA (executive master of business administration) colleges in China, and all of them participated in high-end entrepreneurs in China, such as Wang Shi and Liu Chuanzhi, which were the top activities in the industry. In the last four or five years, some commercial organizations have joined in, including institutions and organizations that do company group building and training. " Zhang Hongfeng, a person who participated in many activities crossing the Gobi and later became an organizer, introduced.
According to his experience, the market price of hiking activities is 12,800 yuan for a single person, and the unit price of Xuanzang Road is close to 19,000 yuan. In these activities, the scale of more than 1,000 people is very rare. "Few people dare to do this. Xuanzang Road, 1,000 people walking in Gobi and Chengge 5 are more than 1,000 people this year." These organizers have many years of experience in Gobi hiking.
In the view of Yue Jun, vice president of Dunhuang Outdoor Sports Association and chairman of Dunhuang Xinshazhou Travel Agency Co., Ltd., Gobi hiking once became hot as a new social way. "Many people feel that going to Gobi and starting a business are the same thing, as long as they persist, they will see the light. This spirit allows business owners and customers to advance wave after wave. "
Nowadays, the challenge of hiking on the Gobi is attracting more young people, who are eager to enrich their life experiences and go to different places.
For this hike, several contestants made a lot of preparations before the game. Zhao Yu did physical training for 20 days and bought clothes and shoes in an outdoor shop. Gao Qi jogs around the lake every afternoon before the game, and then does "hit" training two or three times. After Luo Jia signed up, she ran several kilometers every day. When she was not running, she made an appointment with her classmates to play badminton for several hours.
Gobi is unfamiliar and familiar to them. In the vlog seen by Gao Qi, Gobi is an "endless wilderness"; Zhao Yu likes Gobi, because there is no one there, "so it’s beautiful"; Luo Jia impression, Gobi is desolate.
On this trip, Gobi may mean entrusting fate to others.
Enter no man’s land
On the bus to Gobi, the students fell asleep. This morning, at the request of the organizer, they got up at 3: 30 in the morning.
Li Zicheng said that the fare is expensive in the tourist season. If you use the car in the morning gap, you don’t have to pack a car for a day, but pay for a trip. "They are all college students and want to save some money for everyone."
Zhao Yu is still awake. Outside the window, there are fewer houses, the color of the road becomes monotonous, and the bus keeps bumping up and down. He knows that the Gobi is coming.
Between 5: 00 and 7: 00 on August 1st, the students arrived at the starting point of Gobi Challenge.
On the aerial photos left by drones, the earth is rough and bleak, covered with naked and hard stones and yellow sand, and sparse vegetation is scattered on the boundless land. At the junction of the sky and the ground, the rolling sand mountains in the distance are faintly visible.
Before the starting line, there are scattered groups of red, orange, yellow, blue and green, which are rare colors on the Gobi Desert — — 1000 students are divided into five legions, and the legions are divided into teams of 10 people. They carry their marching bags and wear camouflage hats and bibs. Except for the color difference of vests, they can hardly tell who is who.
Zhao Yu stood in the crowd, on the edge of the Gobi, with an endless front in front of him, and felt the smallness of people for the first time.
UAV aerial photography students wait in front of the starting line.
He took out his mobile phone and looked at it. The signal grid in the upper right corner of the screen showed several bars — — They are about to enter the no-man’s land.
The students put down their luggage with tents and clothes until the organizer sends a car to the camp. From 9: 00 to 10: 00, the legions set off one after another, and the mighty thousand-man team poured into the Gobi.
At first, everyone was very excited, busy taking pictures and having enough supplies. Liu Yining, a student, remembers that every ten minutes, there will be a supply truck passing by, which can stop the move. About 2 kilometers will pass a supply point, and participants can exchange empty bottles for water.
During the hike, the team members took care of each other.
The road under your feet gradually became difficult to walk. "At first, there were many small stones, then there were sand dunes, and then there were more small stones." Zhao Yu said.
Gao Qi bought special walking shoes, but the ground was sometimes hard and sometimes soft, making it very uncomfortable to walk. The aforementioned "Unified Reply" mentioned that the normal Gobi hiking challenge route basically belongs to a flat road, and "our Gobi challenge route needs to climb over Gobi, sand dunes, rocky mountains, etc., and the route is more difficult".
After walking for nearly two hours, Zhao Yu’s feet got blisters. He didn’t dare to rest for long, for fear that he would lose his breath after stopping. The procession is like a long queue, and the last person can’t see the front person. He belongs to the fourth legion and is at the end of the team.
The team of more than 1000 people is like a long queue.
Zhao Yu is at the end of the line and can’t see the front line.
Gao Qi walked at the front of the team. At 12: 40 noon, next to the road sign flag, a van stopped beside him and the driver told him that he was "going the wrong way". Gao Qi was puzzled. The driver said, "Didn’t you see there was no flag ahead?"
On the vast Gobi desert, there are no landmarks to refer to, and the heading direction is set by the flag-planting of the guide car.
The driver took Gao Qi and several players to a small sand dune. Gao Qi was a little confused, and other team members gradually came over and crowded with sand dunes. Many people were at a loss. When Zhao Yu arrived, he was told that "the open car could not find its way". Each team is equipped with a walkie-talkie. Zhao Yu heard the noisy sound of the walkie-talkie in his hand, and the players from different teams asked each other questions.
There was no cloud, the wind was strong and the sun was dazzling. The highest temperature in Dunhuang reached 36 degrees Celsius.
The atmosphere of anxiety began to spread among some students, dragging the time out. The organizing Committee in the vehicle (that is, college student volunteers) told Gao Qi, "The route planning is wrong, and now the flag is inserted wrong, so plug it again." After Gao Qi asked, he found that they didn’t know the route and couldn’t contact the person in charge. There were one after another questions in the crowd, "What activities of this organization?" Zhao Yu feels relaxed and can have a short rest.
Luo Jia crowded on the hill and began to panic. She remembers that the route seems to pass through Mingsha Mountain (scenic spot). She asked her teammates: "How far is Mingsha Mountain from us?" The teammate who has been to Mingsha Mountain replied, "It’s not that close." Her heart was "a little hitched".
Before that, when she crossed the sand mountain, she saw many vegetation covered with filter cloth, and the more she went inside, the more regular it was. She secretly thought: We may have stepped on the government reserve. She felt very uncomfortable, as if forced to take an illegal route and "did something illegal." Does that mean that if you go further inside, you will pass the scenic spot? Luo Jia comforted himself as he walked: "We must trust the organizers."
The students recalled that after waiting for half an hour to an hour on the sand dunes, the team started again. Luo Jia was somewhat shaken.
Luo Jia found that some areas were covered with vegetation with filter screens during hiking.
Contradictory outbreak
A bigger contradiction broke out in the afternoon. Some students found that after they were injured, they failed to get medical and rescue protection in time.
Soon after starting from the sand dunes, Gaucci accidentally twisted his ankle when passing through a rocky beach. He limped to the front of a nearby car, and the volunteers in the car looked at him and said, "There are still five or six kilometers left. Hang in there and hone yourself." He was speechless and felt angry.
Luo Jia’s knee was also injured during hiking. She had an old injury. She asked about the passing rescue vehicles one by one, but they were all full. Looking at the students sitting inside and resting, they closed their eyes and sweated a lot. She was embarrassed to mention it again, just saying "OK, OK, thank you" and walked on with a trekking stick.
Anxious voices were also heard in the public channel of the walkie-talkie. Zhao Yu heard that a team leader kept calling: "Where is the ambulance? My team members’ feet are failing." There was no response. At 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock in the afternoon, three members of Zhao Yu’s team suffered from heatstroke and got on the rescue vehicle before and after. However, the players who continued to walk after the break failed to meet the team again, and they could not contact the original team. They could only walk the rest of the journey alone. "We will never meet again."
Liu Yining’s face was very red after heatstroke. "My head hurts and I can’t stand." She waved to all the passing cars, and no car stopped. The captain’s walkie-talkie called for rescue and got the response of "find your own car". It took 40 minutes for the car to arrive. "After the car sent her to the camp, there was still no medicine, only tents and cold stickers for shade."
Zhao Yu judged that during that time, some students might get on the bus because they couldn’t walk. He is a medical major, and he saw someone "still energetic when getting on the bus, unlike heatstroke".
In this regard, Li Zicheng said that at that time, the collaborator "Bai Sen Outdoor" arranged 32 ambulances, and "there were other tasks besides medical rescue, resulting in insufficient ambulances".
Gao qi can’t leave. For more than an hour, my ankle became more and more painful. He walked to the nearest supply point and said firmly to the driver of the parked pickup truck, "I sprained my ankle. I can’t go any further." The driver asked him to sit on the cargo box, and there was no seat in the car. "But their volunteers (volunteers) sat well in front."
The open-air container was piled with mineral water and sundries, and Gao Qi described himself as "lai" there. After he climbed into the car, seven or eight contestants from Lu Yu, those suffering from heatstroke and sprained ankles, crowded together in the car.
The truck staggered forward and gradually moved away from the big army. Along the way, Gao Qi met the doctors in the team and learned that the team of 1,000 people was equipped with a professional doctor from the Municipal People’s Hospital. The mileage recorded by the mobile phone software of the classmates around him showed that the vehicle drove 20 kilometers from the sand dunes waiting at noon to the camp, not the five or six kilometers that the volunteers said before. The feeling of being cheated once again soared in Gao Qi’s heart.
He thought that this activity must be suspended first, at least to ensure the safety of the contestants.
Negotiation and negotiation
Less than 3: 30 in the afternoon, Gao Qi arrived at the camp. This is a flat land in the Gobi Desert. Under several simple large shade sheds, more than 1,000 students are sitting on the ground to rest. Some people can’t find a place to enjoy the cool, so they rely on the shadow of vehicles to borrow a little shade.
Medical volunteers treated his foot injury with alcohol spray. "There is no ice pack." He asked the other party if he had a qualification certificate, and the two said a few words. The other party finally said, "Why don’t I bring you the hospital?" Gao Qi was speechless with anger.
He is determined to go back to the city for medical treatment and call the police in the afternoon. He wants to find the person in charge of the contracted outdoor organization and another person in charge of the activity, and raise various questions about the competition.
In the camp, the participating students rest under the awning.
At this time, some students have proposed to retire and return to the city.
The reply was "solve it as soon as possible". Until 5: 30 pm, a car carrying Gao Qi and two other seriously injured contestants left the Gobi Desert.
The students arrived at the camp one after another, but the tents and luggage were delayed. At about 6 pm, the first batch of materials arrived at the scene, and the students of the 123 Corps received tents, and some people began to camp. Lin Yang is one of the students who got the materials, but he is not going to set up a tent.
He wants to send five students with heatstroke out first.
After experiencing difficulties in communication when looking for a car for teammates and insufficient supply of glucose and salt, Lin Yang remembers that the night before hiking and during the day, Newth employees repeatedly said, "As long as you find anything wrong, please give up. Your own safety is the most important thing. Get on the bus directly and the car will send you back to the camp." After the meeting, he went to the person in charge alone and confirmed that there would be two professional medical teams. But all these things went wrong and he was disappointed.
Li Zicheng responded that he later learned that there was only one professional doctor arranged by Bai Sen. In addition, the medical team included more than a dozen volunteers and trained in outdoor first aid skills.
Lin Yang recalled that at 5 or 6 o’clock in the afternoon, several volunteers wearing white vests began to count the withdrawal list. He asked to confront the person in charge face to face and talk about the problems.
Students who want to say something form a group, and the more people gather, there are nearly 200.
In the evening, some contestants negotiated with the person in charge of the activity.
After a while, Lin Yang found that in the direction of another legion, another group of students got together. It was another person in charge who was stopped from negotiating. Under the students’ questions, he either kept silent or said that he could not solve it.
In the crowd, some people are emotional and "feel cheated", while others just watch and have a chance to say a few words. In the impression of contestant Xie Fei, during the negotiation, one of the students finished and the other went on to say, "It was quite orderly, and there was no violent quarrel". He didn’t participate in the negotiation. "I have also held outdoor activities in universities before, and I feel that the organizing Committee has done a good job as a whole, but they (referring to some students) are a little picky about the details."
Luo Jia is one of the students who arrived at the camp late. She decided to retire. "I can’t joke about the future of my leg." She felt very tired and didn’t think too much. "I didn’t blame the organizer, so I thought it might be my own problem."
From the words of the students, she realized that there were various problems in medical care and routes. "It turned out that it was so unsafe for us to walk in Gobi." She remembers that the person in charge of the outdoor company was tall and strong, nodded in a daze and didn’t respond.
Luo Jia said that after this, He Dong, the person in charge of the activity and one of the founders of Newth, came to the camp. He said to everyone, Dear brothers and sisters, you have to believe us. Luo Jia felt that the other party was saying "rhetoric", which made him even more untrustworthy.
At about 9 pm, the students negotiated with He Dong for a long time. Finally, many students recalled that He Dong promised to send out the students who asked to retire that night. "The materials arrived at 11 o’clock (evening), and he returned to the camp to print out the activity plan and cost details to the captain. At 12 o’clock (evening), a vehicle will be transferred back to Dunhuang No.2 Middle School. "
Alarm after panic
Night comes in Gobi, and the temperature drops gradually. The sky was getting dark, and there was no light in the camp. Looking out, it was dark and flat, and nothing could be seen.
Luo Jia thought that on the way to the camp on foot, they climbed over the mountains and knew that there were slopes and dangers, but now all sides were the same scene, and she felt the fear of the unknown. Both heaven and earth are huge, giving people a strong sense of unreality.
After the negotiating classmates dispersed, she stood chatting with several players. A dark, short boy said in a flat tone, "Do you know there are wolves?" Luo Jia panicked and almost screamed. "He said that I studied forensic medicine, and there were wolf droppings, wolf hairs and footprints. According to the depth of the soil, it was inferred that the wolf had been here not long ago. You don’t believe me to take you to see it."
The knowledge about wolves in the past suddenly hit her mind — — Wolves are social animals. If you see one, it may be a pile in the next second. They are smart, no matter how many people there are, and they know how to break up the crowd … …
The news that there is a wolf near the camp quickly spread among the students.
Zhou Junsheng, a student participating in the competition, recalled that a volunteer pushed the speaker and said, please gather the volunteers for a meeting. "After the meeting, I went around and said that there were traces of wolves around here. Please help me to make some fire to prevent wolves." In Zhao Yu’s version, he heard that several girls said they saw green eyes. Lin Yang remembers that several players who had served in the military said that they had found traces of wolves and ran to warn the team to move a little in the middle. Some people lit bonfires around and burned them for a while.
No one knows the truth, but the panic has been ignited. The members of the Fifth Legion called each other and sat around together. Luo Jia told some students, "There is a wolf, so get ready and don’t get separated."
Students chat and play games. Luo Jia became more and more uneasy. She wanted to leave quickly and proposed to call the police. "Many things they (the organizers) said were false and didn’t come true. Some people are injured and sick, the environment is bad, and there are no weapons. These three points add up to enough for them to kill us all. "
Others don’t want to call the police. They want to wait until 11 o’clock promised by He Dong. Luo Jia hesitated. The game continued, and she tried to hide her nervousness, fearing that being seen would trigger a collective panic.
Lin Yang said that at that time, more than 1,000 students had their own ideas. "People who should eat, drink, sleep and play cards are still eating, drinking and sleeping, and those who should look at the stars are still looking at the stars. Only those tents of the Fourth and Fifth Army Corps have not come and some people who have not come to leave are in a state of high tension." He saw many people walking around, looking for signals, with a sad face.
Near 11 o’clock in the middle of the night, Luo Jia finally got the tent and clothes. There is a big temperature difference between day and night on the Gobi. At that time, the temperature was "like winter in the south, you need quilts and goose bumps." She clung to her teammates and kept talking.
At the appointed time, He Dong did not appear. The trust between the organizers and the participating students has fallen to the bottom.
Luo Jia felt that she couldn’t wait any longer. She took out her mobile phone and broadcast an emergency call.
"We are trapped in the Gobi Desert." She said.
The night looked out from the tent.
A sleepless night
The night is deeper, the starry sky is bright and clear, and a galaxy runs through from north to south. When several meteors appeared, Luo Jia closed his eyes and made a wish, "Let’s go quickly".
After she called the police, a captain came to remind her not to catch a cold and get sick outside. She and her teammates first set up a tent to keep warm, and then came out to wait for a while. She sat trying to sleep, but she was afraid to close her eyes.
Lin Yang recalled that in the evening, some students in the team had tonsillitis and began to cough, have a runny nose, spit and have a fever. They didn’t look energetic.
Zhao Yu also shuttled from tent to tent, looking for the organizer and comforting nervous students. He saw a boy going from tent to tent to ask if there were any people studying law and to sue the organizer; A girl broke into tears and told the volunteers that she didn’t want to do anything now and just wanted to leave this place. She had already reported to the police.
The volunteer replied that someone would come back at 12 o’clock in the evening. But at 1: 20 in the morning, the person in charge was still missing.
Why hasn’t the bus for picking up students arrived? Li Zicheng later explained that the outdoor person in charge of Bai Sen once said that he would go to the urban area to dispatch vehicles urgently and evacuate the people who dropped out halfway. During the waiting process, the responsible person of the organizing committee of the camp found that the vehicle had never arrived and could not get in touch with the outdoor person in charge of Bai Sen, so he contacted the responsible person of the organizing committee stationed in the urban area and asked to dispatch the vehicle. It was found that the arrival of the bus would involve the "2:00-5:00" bus stop regulation of the regulatory authorities. "The outdoor person in charge of Bai Sen learned about this situation at 11 o’clock in the evening, but did not inform us in time."
That night, Luo Jia was not the only student who called the police.
When communicating with government workers the next day, Zhao Yu learned that the mayor’s office had received an alarm call saying that someone was injured in the head, endangering his life and dying. "In fact, that person just wears his feet out and bleeds." Some people also reported that they had walked 40 kilometers and were helpless. Xie Fei remembers that he once saw seven or eight students around saying that they wanted to call the police, and also said that "1,200 college students were lost on the Internet". He didn’t know whether these people finally called the police.
Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the Command Center of the Public Security Bureau of Aksai County, Gansu Province, said in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily that they received a notice from the Aksai County Emergency Management Bureau at 10: 40 pm that more than 1,200 people got lost during the Gobi Walking Competition near Haizi Township Government on National Highway 215 and asked for help. At that time, many people called for help. At about 2: 40 in the morning, they found the lost people near the stone pier 50 kilometers away from Subei.
Lin Yang was comforting the team members in the tent when he suddenly heard someone outside say "the police are coming". He saw the lights of the police car flashing in the distance and coming in the direction of the team members. The students were very excited, and someone went to the front and started to use a strong flashlight to help the police find their place.
The person in charge of the event also came to the scene later. Li Zicheng explained that after the event, the police said that there were seven organizers, that is, seven organizers who were present to communicate with them. "There are more than a dozen event organizing committees, the person in charge is me, more than 60 volunteers, and more than 40 logistics support personnel."
After the students and the person in charge of the competition negotiated with the police, the fire truck stopped about 100 meters away from the camp until 7: 00 the next morning. Lin Yang felt, "Everyone is at ease."
At this moment, in Dunhuang People’s Hospital, which is more than 200 kilometers away from the camp, Gao Qi fell asleep on the couch in the infusion hall.
He arrived in Dunhuang city at seven o’clock in the evening. Two injured students went to the hospital first. He went to the police station in the jurisdiction next to the Dunhuang Public Security Bureau. The police replied that they could not interfere unless their lives and property had been harmed.
Gao Qi took a taxi to Dunhuang No.2 Middle School, but the security guard refused to let him in. He tried to call Li Zicheng, the general manager and the sub-managers, but they couldn’t get through. I found the phone number of the head office on the webpage and the other party replied: I don’t know what happened here in Dunhuang.
He had to call the 12345 hotline suggested by the police, and the government staff replied that they would send someone to contact the organization and ask them to take good care of it.
During the waiting hours, he had nowhere else to go, and his identity document was still in the camp. He was bored all over, his feet were shaking all the time, he was anxious, and even felt funny: how did he become like this?
From Dunhuang No.2 Middle School to the intersection, Gao Qi sat down on the side of the road, watching people coming and going, lights and traffic lights flashing, but he felt safe.
Less than 11 pm, government workers and Li Zicheng arrived and took him to the hospital. Gao Qi’s foot has been completely swollen. "The doctor said that excessive exercise, blood stasis in the foot, and no ice for a long time." He hung on salt water for an hour, afraid to contact his family, for fear that his family would worry, and sent a message to the players, but he could not contact them.
On this day, he spent the night alone in the hospital.
After walking out of the Gobi
At about 10: 00 a.m. on August 2, 357 retired students left Gobi by truck and then returned to Dunhuang No.2 Middle School by bus in the afternoon. The rest of the contestants continued to walk and arrived at the bus assembly point at 1 pm.
The Gobi Desert in Dunhuang fell into a brief silence.
Letter of guarantee from He Dong, head of Newth, to the contestants.
Hiking in this no-man’s land has been popular since 13 years ago, which has brought new consumption growth to Dunhuang with a population of less than 200,000.
Zhang Hongfeng introduced that at present, the business model of walking in Gobi is recruiting people for organizations and institutions, and is responsible for overall planning and publicity; Then cooperate with the outdoor company in the ground, and the local company is responsible for rescue, supply and logistics. The local company rarely raises people when it moves. "When it takes a job, it will find a team of drivers, kitchens and medical clinics to provide services, which is also outsourcing."
In recent years, the walking heat in Gobi has soared. Yue Jun once hosted a host company. In 2017, the first event organized 900 people, which increased to 1,500 in 2018 and then to 2,400. "Without advertising, you can find so many people just by promoting the contestants in the circle of friends and launching crowdfunding."
The market is gradually becoming mixed. "Many people think this thing is quite simple, so they will do it." Yue Jun believes that Gobi hiking must have strong professional experience and outdoor support team. However, there is no common standard for how many people should be equipped with medical personnel and logistics support teams, and they are all set according to the industry’s own experience.
In Zhang Hongfeng’s view, the problem with the activity is usually due to the organizer’s little consideration. "Pay attention to the front-end people, and the money for the ground connection is relatively low, and the service there will not keep up."
According to the organizer’s publicity materials, the co-organizers of this event include Gansu United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Association. Du Yongjun, President of Gansu Province, responded to The Paper that Gansu Association of UNESCO is a social organization under the guidance of Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and registered in the Civil Affairs Department. They are mainly responsible for consulting, consulting, personnel organization, route and logistics, etc. The organizers and outdoor companies are carrying out this activity.
Li Zicheng, the person in charge of the event and one of the founders of Newth, admitted that these partners did not participate in the specific implementation of the event. "Because we have been doing public welfare for many years, everyone knows us and we hope that more people will participate in the event", so we invited them to become co-organizers.
At present, the management of Gobi hiking is in a blank area. "There are no relevant regulations, and it may only rely on travel agency regulations. The association can only suggest that our members (local teams) can talk to each other, but if it is just an outdoor camping company, it is not within our jurisdiction. " Yue Jun said.
The staff of Dunhuang Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Television told The Paper that all hiking activities in Dunhuang Gobi must be approved by relevant departments, involving sports, tourism, public security, environmental protection and cultural relics. However, the Tourism Bureau of this thousand-person hiking activity did not receive any record. "Our place generally does not support such activities when the temperature is so high in July and August."
After retiring on August 2nd, Gao Qi set up the Gobi Challenge Rights Protection Group, hoping to find a statement. He thought that if they didn’t stand up, more people would encounter similar problems in the future. Sometimes some students in the group are very excited, and he will appear and say that everyone should calm down first.
On August 10th, the organizing committee of the event sent an open letter, without issuing an apology statement agreed before. Gao Qi was angry again, "completely shirking the responsibility to the outdoor company". The organizer gave everyone a refund of 42.5 yuan. He looked at the payment page in Alipay and "thought that 42.5 yuan was insulting me".
On August 10th, the organizing committee issued the Open Letter of Yixing China 2019 University Students Gobi Challenge Hiking Event.
Gao Qi has considered taking the legal route. If he continues to go to court and find a lawyer, he will have to pay more time and energy. "I don’t know how to stick to it. I have a lot of things myself. I don’t know what I can get if I invest." He is also worried that he can’t represent everyone.
Luo Jia went home and took Newth WeChat official account into custody. Someone knew that she went to the no-man’s land and left a message on WeChat saying "cool". She quickly explained, "It sounds exciting, but it’s actually bad". She would also feel guilty and trouble the police, but she thought, "It was originally the organizer’s problem."
The news of "1200 college students lost their way in Gobi", the message at the bottom hangs there forever. "A bunch of idiots" and "wasting social resources" are like a scar.
Some students posted the link to the report in the group, and Lin Yang saw someone reply. This shouldn’t be such a big deal. "You should have known this would happen when you started to participate in the activity. After all, it was a hike in the Gobi." He was even more angry. Although he was not injured himself, he chose to retire. "What is their attitude towards those who can’t walk down and find medical problems? Can you walk down on your own, but can you respect others? "
This hiking trip also left different memories. Lin Yang said that he learned to take responsibility. During the hiking, he found that many teams were alone, and he picked up several players from other teams to go with him.
Xie Fei remembers that when he was hiking the next day, he heard a song on the road, "Several teams sing together and cheer for each other".
Liu Yining couldn’t forget the night in Dunhuang. She found that the Gobi was not only desert, but also rivers, snow-capped mountains and lizards.
After returning, she wrote down in her travel notes: Eight o’clock in Dunhuang is the happiest moment of the day. You will see the shadow extending continuously, and the weak sunshine will make you happy. You will know that the Milky Way and the meteor will be two hours later.
(At the request of the respondents, Luo Jia, Zhao Yu, Lin Yang, Xie Fei, Zhou Junsheng and Liu Yining are pseudonyms.)
