China\People

Meet China's youngest adventurer

CGTN | Updated: 2017-03-31 09:43

Lao Ji looked at his son, and said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to confront fear."

On their way to the mystic Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca settlement on an iconic mountain ridge in Peru, the family was caught in a freezing storm at a mountain pass 4,200 meters above sea level. They were totally soaked and feared for their lives in the extreme weather, when they saw a crude shack built from wood and stone.

A middle-aged woman came out. At the sight of the family looking like frozen popsicles, she quickly lit a fire to keep warm.

Sitting around the fire and gradually feeling the blood again moving through his veins, Simba said, "Dad, we have to give the grandma money to thank her for helping us."

Lao Ji was glad, "Besides giving her money, you have to be grateful from the bottom of your heart. You have to remember to try your best to help when other people are in need."

It has never been an ordinary journey. Lao Ji has his own philosophy when it comes to traveling: You experience happiness and also pain.

After more than four months in South America, Simba finally boarded an expedition ship to the Antarctic. He became the youngest Chinese to have ever set foot on Antarctica. Lao Ji had been in talks with the expedition ship six months in advance to make sure they were happy to accept a child as young as Simba.

On February 21, the ship arrived on the Antarctic Peninsula against the mad waves of the Drake Passage, and five days later, it crossed the Antarctic Circle.

Simba spent four days within the Antarctic Circle along with his parents, watching penguins, seals and whales and even drawing them.

A zoologist on the ship encouraged Simba to protect animals. Simba then decided to call on the public to protect animals with his drawings.

Lao Ji said he doesn't have many expectations from Simba, nor does he care much about whether the young boy can remember their journeys at such an age. He and his wife only hope that they can give their him a happy childhood in the company of his parents. And they believe that everything he has experienced along the way has impressed him physically and mentally.

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page