Final heroic trek forged in mud, sweat

Heavy burden

Dang Xinrui started his annual vacation on July 9 in Yunnan province where he intended to go hiking. He sent his friend and former colleague Ma Ziwen daily photos of the scenery.

"I'll take you hiking to watch the sunrise someday. Climbing up and seeing it. It's truly amazing," he told Ma.

He was in Lijiang, Yunnan, on July 11 and exchanged messages with his father that night, not mentioning anything about a change of plans.

The next day, he saw a message in a social media group saying volunteers were urgently needed to carry supplies into the mountains of Zhenlong township in Nanning, Guangxi's capital. He immediately responded to the call.

Many areas in Guangxi had been inundated by heavy rainfall from July 4, due to the impact of Typhoon Maysak, the 10th typhoon of the year.

In Zhenlong, roads had been washed away and villagers were trapped without access to food or drinking water.

"He messaged me saying he wasn't going sightseeing anymore. Instead, he was going to save lives," Ma recalled, adding whenever someone needed help, his friend would always be the first person to step forward.

Dang traveled to Nanning and then headed to Wuli town in Qintang district, Guigang, where there was a relief supply distribution center and a departure point for volunteers entering the mountains.

Zhenlong's Heyuan village, nestled deep in the mountains, was one of the areas hardest hit.

Landslides and road collapses had occurred in multiple locations. Water, electricity, communications and transportation were cut off to some villagers. Supplies could only be transported on foot.

More than 30 young people from across the country gathered at Wuli with a shared purpose.

On July 13, Huang Jinda, a villager from Heyuan, said he just completed a supply delivery the day before when a group of young strangers arrived in the afternoon and asked him to guide them into the mountains. He said he was too exhausted to join.

"Carrying supplies in takes over eight hours, and the return trip takes another four. The weather was sweltering. I was too worn out and needed to rest," he told Guangxi Daily.

After discussions, the group decided to follow two other volunteers who had been into the mountains, using routes recorded on their sports watches.

Worried about their safety, Huang gave them dozens of boxes of herbal remedy and glucose for emergencies.

"These volunteers were complete strangers, yet they worked harder than family. They're all good people! Many had paid 2,000 ($296) to 3,000 yuan out of their own pockets for travel expenses," Huang said.