From plain lands to mountains

                                                               Yan Changlong

When this reporter visited the Tibet Mountaineering School, she met Yan Changlong, who had only been living in Tibet and teaching at the school for seven days.

"Yan comes from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, one of the flattest regions in China. When he initially arrived in Lhasa, Yan said he vomited badly on the first morning despite eating nothing the day before.

Yan grew up in an athletic family. In 2000, his uncle, Yan Genghua, became the first Chinese amateur mountaineer to climb Qomolangma, also known as the Mount Everest, alone. He successfully reached the peak but died during his descent.

“That incident struck me deeply,” Yan said. “It made me grow up and know what I was going to do.”

After graduating from Tianjin University of Sport with a major in sports training, Yan opened a tennis class and was making a great living.

But he wasn’t satisfied.

In Dec 2010, Yan called Nima Tsering, his uncle’s very good friend, saying he would like to teach at the mountaineering school.

                                          Students at the Tibet Mountaineering School

Facing strong opposition from his parents, Yan finally made up his mind to travel to Lhasa in March. He teaches Chinese, English and physical training at the school.

“I said to my family, ‘There needs to be at least once in my life that I do something not for money,’” Yan said.

Yan will go to the base camp of Qomolangma this May – to commemorate his uncle.

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