Outdoor responsibilities

Looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, the booming middle class of China has begun venturing into the great outdoors. But their blind faith in their equipment cannot make up for their lack of experience in activities such as mountain climbing and hiking.

The adventure industry in China is far from mature now and is poorly supervised. Most of the expeditions are organized on a volunteer basis via the Internet and who should pay the cost of saving those who get into trouble has become a controversial topic after one local authority spent 100,000 yuan ($15,600) saving 14 hikers who had been missing for 13 days in Sichuan province.

What annoyed the public was the hikers' casual apology for the trouble they had caused after they were rescued on Oct 12. It turns out they enjoyed their 13-day experience and took photos along the way as if nothing had happened. Yet more than 300 people were involved in the search and rescue efforts with many more waiting anxiously for the hikers' safe return.