Chasing his dream, step by step
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E-mail China Daily, July 26, 2012
"The seal is a token that I have been to the place and a souvenir."
Food, Jin says, was the only necessity: "You can ask people for water, but not for food. It is a matter of dignity."
Jin cherished three things most in his backpack: the signatures he got from the national basketball and volleyball teams, the seals he has obtained from local sport authorities, and the photos he took along the way.
Those who met Jin on his travels were impressed by his perseverance and good health.
"To me, his stamina is beyond his age," says Tian Jianxin, a hiker in Chongqing municipality, who met Jin when he visited the municipality in June.
Tian says he and two other hikers accompanied Jin to obtain seals from sport authorities in two Chongqing districts and were worn out after a trip of 30 km. But Jin was full of stamina, he says.
Tian says they offered Jin a ride in their car, but he refused.
"I would ask people for a ride when it was raining heavily, but certainly not in this case," Jin comments.
Now, Jin says, he plans to rest for three years after concluding some trips to some counties he hasn't visited.
After that he will start hiking again, to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
"I need to save money as I hear costs there are high."
"I am the kind of person who looks for a good beginning and a good end. I will not give up easily on things I have decided on," he says.
"When I look at the photos I've taken and the signatures and seals I've got along the way, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
"It feels like getting closer to a dream, step by step."
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