Kunming native and accomplished explorer Jin Feibao was awarded a 2007 Golden Rhinoceros Outdoor Award in Beijing on Sunday for "Outdoor event of the year" – an award commemorating his visiting both of the Earth's poles and each continent's highest summit in the 19 months from May 2006 to December 2007.

The award is Jin's second consecutive Golden Rhinoceros – last year he was awarded a Golden Rhino "Breakthrough award". This year is the third year in which the prize has been awarded by China's top mountain climbers and adventurers to the year's most outstanding outdoor adventurers.

"I'm extremely happy to be able to be able to repeat as a Golden Rhinoceros award winner this year," Jin said. "For me, this is the ultimate motivation and support."

In 2007 Jin ascended each continent's highest peak: Everest/Qomolongma in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, McKinley in North America, Aconcagua in South America, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia and Vinson in Antarctica. In addition to climbing these seven peaks, Jin hiked to the North and South Poles, at one point falling through thin ice into icy arctic waters while trekking toward the North Pole.

During his travels, Jin made daily phone calls back to his friends and family in Kunming, which were republished with permission on GoKunming. Jin told GoKunming that in addition to learning about different places around the world, he discovered the extent to which global climate change is affecting the world's most delicate ecosystems.

Jin is expected to be part of the Olympic torch relay team in Tibet this year.

Image: clzg.cn

Related articles:

"I may be the first Chinese to accomplish this"

"Today my mind has gone numb"

Kunming man approaching South Pole

Jin Feibao skiing toward North Pole

Jin Feibao ascending Mt Aconcagua

Tags: environment, Global Warming, Golden Rhinoceros, Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, Mt Aconcagua, Mt Elbrus, Mt Everest, Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Kosciuszko, Mt McKinley, Mt Vinson, North Pole, Olympics, South Pole

The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new content. We at GoKunming are not above this practice, so here's our look at the people and events that shaped 2007 in Kunming and Yunnan.

January
Internet access in Kunming and around Asia was severely limited after a late-December earthquake in Taiwan severed some rather important undersea cables to North America. Normal or near-normal access was quickly restored to China's coast and elsewhere around Asia, but more remote places such as Yunnan province were forced to wait until February for normal internet access to be restored.

Kunming native Jin Feibao hiked to the South Pole, only to discover that it was already an American city.

Yunnan First People's Provincial Hospital and the Xishan Public Security Bureau opened China's first drunk tank for foreigners, citing increased numbers of 'drunken incidents' involving foreigners.

February
The popular American pseudo-Chinese restaurant chain PF Chang's Chinese Bistro launched a special 'Flavors of Yunnan' menu that ran from Chinese New Year to September at more than 130 locations across the US. Although it was difficult to not be critical of the menu's lack of authenticity, it seemed to be a promising indicator that the unique dishes and cooking styles found in Yunnan were beginning to be noticed by the outside world.

A down-on-his-luck businessman in Fumin County near Kunming got his 15 minutes of fame for painting a mountain green in order to improve the mountain's fengshui with the hope of improving his personal fortunes as well. The mountain which had been quarried for 20 years was covered with nearly half a billion yuan's worth of bright green paint over 45 days.

Yunnan province was singled out for praise by UK medical journal The Lancet for its efforts in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. In terms of HIV/AIDS infections, Yunnan has been one of the more harder-hit regions of China and is where China's first case of HIV/AIDS was reported in 1985. The Lancet said that Yunnan "has shown strong support for implementation and advocacy of harm-reduction strategies that reduce HIV transmission in its many drug users".

March
A great place for hiking, biking and navel gazing, the sleepy town of Dali inched a little bit closer to Kunming with the completion of the new Kunming-Dali highway. The new road reduced travel time between Kunming and Dali to around four hours – not much longer than the total time required for someone living in downtown Kunming to fly to Dali.

Following in the footsteps of the town of Zhongdian in northwest Yunnan – which was officially renamed 'Shangri-la', the city of Simao was renamed Pu'er with the hope of cashing in on the boom in interest in pu'er tea. Unfortunately, Pu'er was hit by a major earthquake a few months later.

April
The Mekong River, which flows out of China via Yunnan, was drying up in its lower reaches in Southeast Asia. Water levels as low as one meter on the border of Laos and Thailand made river travel or transport all but impossible for much of April. The low levels were attributed to a combination of an intense dry season and the completion of two dams – Manwan and Dachaoshan – on the Lancang River, as the Mekong is known in Yunnan.

Yunfest 2007, perhaps the best documentary festival in China, was cancelled under a shroud of rumor and confusion. GoKunming hopes to see the festival back in Kunming in 2009.

Kunming's re-emergence as the center of Asia made progress as India began rebuilding its section of the Stilwell Road and overland transport agreements between China and Vietnam streamlined the movement of goods and people between Yunnan and Vietnam. Border wars with India in 1962 and Vietnam in 1979 led to long periods of icy relations between the two countries and China. With the return of relative political and economic stability to most of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, Yunnan appears poised to become a hub for commerce, politics and transport between the three dynamic regions.

May
Kunming hosted China's 7th National Disabled Games, a major test for the city, which is keen to host more international events. In general the games were well-managed and inspiring to disabled and non-disabled attendees alike. One of the more popular events was blind soccer (football) - check out this video clip to see how they do it.

June
June was both a good and bad month for Kunming's image as the Kunming Fair totaled US$150 million in completed deals and Kunming was named China's 'Solar City' as well as one of China's 'rising urban stars'. Slightly less positive, nearby Dianchi Lake made an appearance in domestic and international media as its waters turned bright green from an algae outbreak.

July
Kunming became one of the first Chinese cities with a 'drive-thru' McDonald's. The old town of Lijiang began charging an 80 yuan entry fee as UNESCO warned China that some of its World heritage sites in Yunnan were designated for 'examination' due to concerns regarding development and tourism (Lijiang) and damming (Three Parallel Rivers Protected Areas).

Yunnan's rainy season inflicted heavy damage provincewide as dozens of people died and thousands were displaced by heavy rains and flooding.

August
Former Kunming Deputy Mayor Hu Xing was sentenced to life in prison for bribery after being extradited from Singapore to Kunming. Hu, who allegedly took more than 40 million yuan in bribes while in office, was in charge of Kunming's roads and highways for several years, which may partially explain the dismal state of Kunming traffic.

Food prices in Yunnan were rising quickly, causing concern for workers and business owners around the province, and pu'er tea was leading all luxury goods in China in terms of price growth.

September
Kunming held its first no-car day in which only buses and taxes were allowed to operate within the city center. The city later became China's first city with regular no-car days - although the no-car day on December 29 was apparently forgotten.

Starbucks announced that it would begin sourcing coffee beans from Yunnan amid rumors that Starbucks outlets would come to challenge Kunming's homegrown café scene in 2008.

October
China's rock godfather Cui Jian headlined the Lijiang Snow Mountain Music Festival just weeks before the first Kunming Outdoor Music Festival was held in Anning.

Yunnan announced major changes to its resident registration system, during 2008 it will be seen what impact the changes will have upon rural migrants moving to cities around the province.

November
While much of northwestern Yunnan was snowed under, Kunming hosted its first-ever international film festival as well as China's largest travel expo, and it was announced that Kunming would be the site of the first war games between the Chinese and Indian armies.

December
Kunming was hit by a major gasoline shortage which disrupted life for many city residents and companies. GoKunming readers selected their favorite places to eat, drink and play in Kunming in the Best of Kunming 2007 awards.

And as a nice year-end gesture, the Chinese government officially scrapped its plans to dam Tiger Leaping Gorge… more about that next year.

The GoKunming team thanks everyone who visited the site in 2007 and wishes all of its readers a happy, healthy and bountiful 2008.

Tags: 2007, 2008, Cui Jian, Dali, Dianchi Lake, food prices, foreigner drunk tank, gasoline shortage, HIV/AIDS, Hu Xing, internet access, Jin Feibao, Kunming Fair, Lijiang, Lijiang Snow Mountain Music Festival, McDonald's, Mekong River, National Disabled Games, no-car days, PF Chang's, Pu'er, Shangri-la, Starbucks, Stilwell Road, The Lancet, Three Parallel Rivers Protected Areas, war games, Yunfest

Kunming resident and outdoor adventurer Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trek to the North Pole, he has moved on to Alaska in the United States, where he has been climbing Mt McKinley. Due to weather and geographical conditions, Jin's satellite phone has only worked sporadically and he has not been in regular contact with us as on his previous expeditions. He did manage to get through after summiting Mt Mckinley - below is a transcript of his telephone report to Kunming.

"I have successfully reached the summit, and have safely come down to Camp 4. On June 30 [Saturday Beijing time] the weather was nice and sunny. We started early from Camp 5 at 17,200 feet and climbed up a very steep ridge. When we reached 18,400 feet a climber from Germany who was in another climbing team fainted and fell to the icy ground. It was an emergency so the German team leader asked our tour guide's help and our tour guide helped him to carry the unconscious man down to Camp 5. Afterward, our guide climbed up again to join us.

When we reached a spot only 330 feet short of the summit, we looked up and discovered the path to the summit was on a knife-sharp ridge covered by thick snow. The path looked like a high, steep roof - we had to walk on the eaves of the ridge to reach the summit. If the eaves collapsed, we would surely plummet and die.

After considering the situation, three members of my team decided to turn back and some other climbers in other teams also decided to give up. At this critical moment, I didn't care if I was scared or not, I just had one thought in my head: I could do it. Under the instruction of our guide, I finally made it to the summit at 20,320 feet!

The space at the summit was very small - only about two square meters - so we had to take photos one by one. Before taking photos, we had to shove our ice axes deep
into the snowy ground to keep us safe. Standing at the summit, I displayed China's national flag, the 2008 Beijing Olympic flag and a few other banners. When I took out the Olympic flag, everyone with me on the summit said they would like to come to Beijing to watch the games in 2008. I said loudly and proudly: "Welcome, welcome, the Beijing Olympic Games will surely be one of the best ever!"

After taking photos, we started heading back down, which unfortunately was not easier than going up. We were already exhausted at that time which made it easier to fall down. We had to focus all our attention on the descending route and hold our ice axes very tightly. Looking down the steep ridge, I was scared. I told myself again and again: "hold on, hang on, keep going." Although I felt very hungry, thirsty and cold I kept moving slowly and carefully. Finally, I safely reached Camp 5. I looked at my watch - it was 00:05 am July 1 [US local time], so, it took me 16 hours to climb from Camp 5 to the summit and back.

Now, I have already come down to Camp 4. Tomorrow, I should be back at Base Camp."

Tags: Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, Mt McKinley, sports

Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, he has moved on to Norway and is skiing to the North Pole. GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming.

April 27: Champagne on top of the world

"Yesterday, we skied 11 hours, covering 13 kilometers and reaching the North Pole at 2:45 am on April 28, Beijing time.

Compared to the previous seven days, this last day of trekking and skiing was the hardest one. We were blocked by many wide crevasses with water inside, so we had to use GPS frequently to guide us as we zigzagged around the labrynthine crevasses.

During the day I stepped on a pack of thin ice that was too thin to hold my weight - it broke as soon as I put my full weight on it and I fell into the icy water. Luckily the hole I fell into was not wide, so I could prevent myself from falling in completely, only my legs were in the water. The tour leader rushed to me and pulled me from the frigid water, then picked up the powdery snow on the surface of the ice and used the snow to rub my wet pants to accelerate the freezing process of the water in my pants, thus lowering the danger of frostbite. After a while my legs felt okay again, so we kept pushing forward.

When the GPS showed that we were extremely close to the North Pole, everybody was so excited that all the expedition members began running like lunatics toward the direction of the pole. Finally, the GPS showed that we were standing on the exact spot of 90 degrees north latitude, at that moment, everyone went crazy. We forgot about the freezing cold and exhaustion and started yelling and taking photos and calling family and friends. The tour leader popped open a big bottle of champagne and we all toasted our accomplishment.

Last night we camped at the North Pole, which doesn't have any landmarks. This morning, we woke up and found out that we had drifted two kilometers while sleeping. Now we are waiting for a helicopter to pick us up from the ice and fly us back to Barneo camp, where we will take another airplane back to Longyearbyen in Norway.

At this moment sitting atop the world, I am very proud. I have successfully reached the 3 extremes on earth - the top of Mount Everest, the South Pole and the North Pole - within one year's time. I may be the first Chinese to accomplish this.

I want to express my gratitude to my hometown Kunming, my province Yunnan, my motherland China, and all my friends and family. Thank you all very much!"

Tags: Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, trekking

Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, he has moved on to Norway and is skiing to the North Pole. GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming.

April 24: Massive crevasses and snow-covered holes

"Yesterday, we skied 10 hours, but covered only 13 km. The weather was not good, it was very windy, the temperature dropped to -25˚C. We skied very hard into head-on winds.

On the way, we met a very wide crevasse - about eight meters wide. It was very long - at least several kilometers long. Standing on the edge of the crevasse we could see the blue water below. The ice we were standing on was only about one meter thick above the water level, which meant we were standing on the edge of a big floating piece of ice. There was no way to cross such a wide crevasse except to go around it, so we skied along the crevasse. Two hours later, we finally found an ice bridge and crossed it.

Potential dangers like this are everywhere on the way to the North Pole. Sometimes the hard ice surface is too slippery - even the ski boards can not grip it. Falling down is unavoidable. Sometimes we ski on soft snow and can not avoid the holes hidden beneath the snowy top layer. Yesterday, a team member from the US fell into a snow-covered hole and damaged his ski boards. Luckily the hole was not deep so he wasn't hurt.

We have two tour leaders, both are very experienced. Usually one tour leader skis in the front, checking the ice. When he is unsure about the ice ahead he will take off his skis and walk forward with an exploring pole to check it thoroughly. Meanwhile the other tour leader will follow him with ropes in hand in case he falls through the ice.

We need to drink a lot of water on the way, so each morning before we start out I fill all my water bottles with hot water. Several days later, I discovered that some team members were filling their bottles with hot chocolate. I was drinking water, they were drinking chocolate - they were taking in more energy than me. I have learned from them, now I also fill my bottle with hot chocolate. As we press ahead each day, we not only eat chocolate but drink it too.

Last night while we camped the wind was still blowing hard. That explains why this morning my GPS indicated that we had drifted four kilometers away from where we initially set up camp, so we have to ski four more kilometers to make it up.

My GPS shows that we are only 30 kilometers from the North Pole. With head-on winds, drifting ice and massive crevasses, I'm guessing that our actual ski distance should be at least double the direct distance. However, we have confidence to reach the North Pole within 3 days."

April 25: "Everybody feels very tired"

"Yesterday, we skied 11 hours, covering 15 kilometers. It was still windy and the temperature was around -21˚C. After six days of skiing, everybody feels very tired, everybody feels it's harder and harder to keep going.

While skiing we came to a 30-meter-wide crevasse with water inside. It looked like a wide river - we had no choice but to ski around it. Sometimes we'd come across crevasses that were only three meters across with no water inside but a thin layer of ice on the bottom. In this situation we would lower two sleds to the middle of the crevasse, then fix two pairs of ski boards to connect the sleds with the ice, forming two instant bridges. We'd then cross the bridges and then drag the sleds up behind us. If a crevasse was less than one meter across, we'd use our ski boards as a bridge and cross it easily, then immediately run forward to drag the sled across it quickly.

In order to save fuels for melting ice into drinking water and for cooking, we have not washed our faces or brushed our teeth since we left Barneo camp. Even our bowls and dishes have not been washed. After every meal we seal our bowls and dishes in a plastic bag where they wait for the next use.

Going to the toilet is much easier than in Antarctica. One reason is because it's not as cold here. Another reason is we can always find ice walls. Even if it is only one meter high, it is enough to block the wind while we are doing the big job. We also take all our waste in sealed plastic bags on our sleds as we did in Antarctica.

Foodwise, we have noodles, instant rice, ham, sausage, bread, and chocolate. Of course I love rice the most.

Our tour leaders use a satellite phone to keep in touch with their colleagues in Barneo camp. The tour leader said that presently our seven-person team is the only team in North Pole area.

This expedition is very difficult and lonely, everybody has to have good imaginations to keep their spirits up. Everyday I think about Kunming's warm sunshine, delicious food and my family and friends - and Kunming's nightlife because there is no night here.

This morning we found that once again we drifted four kilometers from where we set up camp the night before. This time we were not surprised nor upset. Now this ski-forward-during-the-day-float-backward-while-sleeping thing as quite normal. Now, we are only 19 km away from the North Pole."

April 26: "I felt like we were skiing in the sky"

"Yesterday, we skied hard for 13 hours and covered 18 kilometers. But we drifted back several kilometers while sleeping. This morning, I checked my GPS and found out that we are still eight kilometers away from the North Pole. I estimate that we can reach our destination within 10 hours.

The weather was not good. It was very cloudy - it looked like the sky and the icy ground merged together. At times I felt like we were skiing in the sky, not on the ice. In the afternoon, it started to snow. The snowflakes were very tiny, like powder. But it was not windy so we didn't feel too cold. I forgot to take out the heat-preserving layer from my boots to air it before I went to sleep last night, so my boots were wet inside, very uncomfortable.

We encountered a really dangerous situation for the first time. While we were preparing to cross a crevasse with water inside, the ice on the other side of the crevasse suddenly started to move, submerging all the small pieces of floating ice in the water very fast. Our tour leader yelled "Go back! Go back!"

We hurried back to a pack of stable ice. Afterward our tour leader told us that if somebody had fallen into the water the person would have been carried away immediately by the floating ice with no chance of being rescued. We were all scared.

We were very close to the North Pole and expected to reach the North Pole yesterday. Unexpectedly, the nearer we got to the North Pole the wider the crevasses with water inside became and the higher the ice hills. We had to ski around one crevasse after another and climb one ice hill after another. In the early evening, we realized that it was impossible to reach the North Pole that day. We had to choose stable ice for our camp, everybody was exhausted.

We did have a pleasant surprise yesterday - we met another expedition team in this icy world. They rode sleds dragged by eight dogs each. Their tour leader was a woman from France and team members included one lady from France and a man from the US. The dogs were very friendly to us and we were very happy to meet them."

Tags: Jin Feibao, North Pole, trekking

Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, he has moved on to Norway and is skiing to the North Pole. GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming

Saturday, April 21: 89 degrees north latitude

"Yesterday at 6:30 pm, we boarded a mid-size Russian transport airplane and flew for about two and a half hours, arriving in Barneo at 9:00 pm Longyearbyen [Norway] local time.

There were about 30 passengers in the airplane, we all sat in the front half of the plane. All luggage was put in the back half. Two thirds of the passengers will not go to the North Pole, they will take some sightseeing tours around Barneo.

Barneo is a Russian research camp located at approximately 89 degrees north latitude, but it is on a big pack of ice which is always floating, so its precise location varies. Barneo was established by the former Soviet Union. In recent years, because Russia has not enough money to support its scientific research here, Barneo has gradually become a tour destination and the starting spot for North Pole expeditions.

Upon landing in Barneo, I saw some locals with their dog sleds waiting for tourists near the runway, so I guess taking sightseeing tours on dog sleds might be the major attractions for ordinary tourists here.

We ate some snacks in a restaurant camp in Barneo then we decided to head north immediately, because we are already three days behind our schedule and we wanted to stretch our legs after the flying. So we strapped on our skis and headed north. One and a half hours later, we had skied two kilometers. The tour leader chose a solid "old" ice float for us to camp on. He said this ice is about 3-4 meters thick.

It was the first time in my life that I slept on floating ice. When I thought that 3-4 meters below me was the deep and icy Arctic Ocean, I felt very uneasy. I could not sleep at first, but looking at the sound asleep 67-year-old Norbert, with whom I shared my tent, I gradually fell asleep."

Sunday, April 22: Crossing crevasses

"Yesterday, we skied seven hours, covering nine kilometers. It was a sunny day - nearly windless. The temperature was about -15˚C, much warmer than in the Antarctica - but the air is much wetter.

After breakfast, we started skiing to the north, dragging our sleds behind us. Each sled weighs about 40 kilograms. We checked our direction by GPS.

On the way we came upon many water leads and crevasses, which have as many kinds of shapes and sizes as you can image. When meeting the wide ones, we had to ski around them, which added more distance to our skiing. When coming upon narrow ones, we had to use the ski board as our bridge to cross them. After reaching the other side, we had to run immediately to pull the ski board across the crevasse, otherwise it would fall into the crevasse.

Sometimes the crevasses in front of us were too wide and too long, if we skied around them, it would cost us a lot of time, so we had to put down our skis and sleds, use a long rope to lower the tour leader down into the crevasse. He walked across the bottom of the crevasse to the other side, then climbed up out and fix the rope on the ice. Using this rope as a safe rope, we crossed the crevasse one by one as the tour leader did. We used the same method to drag our sleds across the crevasse.

Each time when somebody successfully crossed the crevasse, all other people would cheer and applaud, just like watching an acrobatic performance. If somebody could not cross it, then other team members would surely help him. Mr. Norbert is the oldest one in our team, his leg has been hurt when he playing football in his 20s. Whenever he has troubles crossing the crevasses, I always actively offer him a hand. This way no one is left behind, and no one will be left behind.

Because the air is very wet and we sweat so much, whenever we stopped to have a short rest we always found out that our headgear, gloves and clothes were wet. There is no way to dry these things except to put them in our sleeping bags and use our body heat to dry them as we sleep. If you put them outside under the sunshine they will not dry because the air is so humid.

On the way we didn't see any animals, but we saw some ice hills. They may have been the tops of large submerged icebergs. Some ice hills are as high as 60 meters, some looked like towers. Skiing to the North Pole is not as boring as skiing to the South Pole. We had some landmarks and some scenery to look at, although skiing on the uneven ice surface is not as enjoyable as skiing on the flat snow ground in Antarctica."

Monday, April 23: Thin ice

"Yesterday, we skied 9 hours, covered 14 km. The weather was the same - sunny, with a little cloud and a little breeze. Temperatures are still around -15˚C.

Now everybody is familiar with how to ski on the uneven ice surface, how to avoid water leads and how to cross different kinds of crevasses, so we made faster progress than the previous day.

On the way, we encountered some very thin ice - which can be easily broken with a ski pole, so everybody was afraid that the ice could break at any time. Everybody had to ski as fast as he could to lower the pressure on the thin ice. After crossing it, everyone was sweating. It consumed a lot of energy, so we had to stop frequently to eat chocolate bars and drink water. While resting on the ice, one man from the USA took out a harmonica and played some beautiful music. All of us fell silent at that moment, fully enjoying the music which seemed to be coming from heaven.

Up to now, according to my GPS, we have covered nearly one third of the total distance, if everything goes well, we should reach the North Pole within six days."

Tags: Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, North Pole, skiing, trekking

Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Antarctica he is now in Argentina attempting to summit Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America at 6,962 meters (22,841 feet). GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming.

Thursday, March 29: Still at 5,400 meters

"Today, the wind has weakened, and the snowing has stopped, but the weather conditions are still unstable, so the base camp suggested to us that we not proceed up to Camp III, they said the weather might be better tomorrow.

Today we just climbed up for about 100 meters then came back down to stay in the same haven. My headache and my low fever have finally gone away, so my spirit is much higher than in the last two days.

One good thing about this haven is that, there is enough food stored here. Today, I even found a bag of biscuits that was made in Taiwan three years ago, which means some of the food has been stored here for at least that long.

In the afternoon, when the wind finally stopped, it suddenly became unusually quiet.

'It's so quiet!' I said. Alexia [Jin Feibao's tour guide] immediately whispered to me, 'Don't speak loudly, otherwise the Mountain God will be angry, then he will start to make the wind blow again.'

I followed his advice and shut my mouth immediately. From what he said, I could understand that without the help of the Mountain God, it would be impossible for anybody to climb to the summit. In fact, aside from the Mountain God, Mary also plays a very important role in the Aconcagua climbings. I remember when we reached the Base Camp, I saw a statue of the Holy Mary in the camp, both Alexia and Bobbie [another guide and Alexia's girlfriend] went there to pray. I also followed them and wished that Holy Mary could bring us good luck.

Now, I am praying that the weather will be good tomorrow, so we can go up to Camp III [6,000 meters high]."

Friday, March 30: The storm passes

"Today, the snow storm has finally passed. We saw the blue sky again, but there are still some clouds hanging around. The temperature is about 20˚C below zero.

We started early from Camp II [5,400 meters] and climbed up a long and very steep snow slope, successfully reaching Camp III [6,000 meters] in the afternoon. I feel very tired.

Now we are standing on the shoulder of Aconcagua. Looking down, we can see many other snowy peaks in the Andes mountain range, the view is truly magnificent. Looking around, the rocks here are strange in shape. Alexia said the rocks are sculpted into these strange shapes by the strong wind.

In 1998, a local travel service built several log cabins in Camp III, so we don't need to set up our tent. We can stay in a log cabin, which is really a kind of luxury in such a high and cold and windy place.

Mt. Aconcagua is the highest dead volcano in the world, so the rocks here are lava, on the way up, we saw some traces of the magma's movement. We also saw small crystals in several places, I'm guessing there might be a big crystal mine in this mountain. If I were a geologist, this mountain would be a paradise. Tomorrow, if the weather is not bad, we will go up to the 6500 m camp."

Saturday, March 31: So close…

"This morning, Bobbie stayed in the 6,000 meter camp. Alexia and I started at 5:00 am, climbed up for about four hours and reached 6,500 meters. At that time, we could not see the summit, it was covered in clouds and it looked like the snow storm would come back again soon.

So we didn't rest. We didn't eat anything. We pushed forward, but that section was real windy and the wind was coming from several directions, so we had to use our four legs [two legs plus two climbing poles] to hold tightly to the snow ground and trek very slowly. Alexia told me this place is called 'the wind gate', it is always windy here - even on good weather days.

We finally passed the windy section and started climbing up the last ridge which leads to the summit. At this point, the snow was about one meter deep, so we could not push forward fast. It was very cloudy and we could not see the summit. Visibility was very limited.

In the late afternoon, Alexia told me that we had to go back, because the weather was really bad and a snowstorm could come anytime. At that moment I took out my GPS to check, and found that we had already reached a place which was only 100 meters below the summit [6,962 meters]. But we still could not see the summit, and there was not enough time for us to continue going up. Otherwise, even if we could reach the summit, we could not come down.

We had no choice. We had to come down. On the way down I thought we could try the summit again the next day. At about 9:00 pm, we safely reached back to the 6,000-meter camp - extremely tired and extremely hungry because we had no time to eat all day.

Bobbie told us some bad news: the base camp informed her by radio that a snowstorm was coming. This snowstorm was not a small one, it was too dangerous to even stay in such a high camp let alone continue upward, so the base camp ordered us to head down the next day.

I talked to Alexia and Bobbie and tried to persuade them to stay in Camp III for two or three days to wait for better weather. I said I would pay extra money to them. But they said they had to obey the orders of the climbing management center, otherwise, they would lose their jobs as mountain guides. They had no choice but to go back down, it had nothing to do with money.

So, this is the fact I had to face: I had to give up climbing after reaching a spot only 100 meters short of the summit. What a pity!"

Tags: Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, Mt Aconcagua

Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Antarctica he is now in Argentina attempting to summit Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America at 6,962 meters (22,841 feet). GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming

Tuesday, March 27: 5,400 meters

"Yesterday, we endured the strong wind and climbed for 3 and a half hours, reaching the Camp I at 4,900 meters.

Inka Expediciones - the local travel service which I used, sent a lady to work as my assistant guide, her name is Bobbie. Now I have realized that she is the girlfriend of Alexia [Jin Feibao's guide]. So, while we climb, they are in fact talking about love, and at night, the three of us stay in the same tent. As you can imagine, I have unexpectedly become the highest "light bulb" in South America.

"Light bulb" is the Chinese expression for a person who comes between two lovers. Lovers always prefer some dark place to develop their intimacy. However, we are the only climbing team on this huge mountain at this moment, so I do not feel like a foreigner with them. In fact, I am getting along well with them. I believe their love will grow deeper when we climb higher.

This morning, the good weather ended. The mountain was surrounded by a snow storm, sometimes the visibility was only about four or five meters. But we decided to push forward. So we climbed up very slowly and very carefully. It took us about 10 hours to reach the Camp II at 5,400 meters.

On the way up, I realized that it was too difficult for them to take all of our luggage in such bad weather so I offered to help them take some luggage, just like I helped the man from Boston with his luggage on our way to the South Pole. I fully understand that teamwork is the key for the success of this climbing.

On the way up, sometimes the wind was so strong that we had to use "four legs" - two real legs and two climbing poles - to hold tightly on the snowy ground, otherwise, we would be blown off the mountain.

The good thing about the Camp II is there is a haven built for climbers to use in case of an emergency like today, so we don't need to set up our tent, we can stay overnight inside this haven, it is about eight square meters, with some food and liquid gas tanks inside. Alexia told me that there are another two havens like this in higher places, one is at 6,000 meters, another is at 6,300 meters. This is very good news for me. It shows that Aconcagua climbs are really well-managed. This management method is something which China should learn from.

Maybe it's because I have not rested well, or maybe it's because I have ascended too fast, but after we got to the haven of Camp II, I started to have a headache, and I also had a little fever. Bobbie gave me a painkiller tablet, she said this medicine is specially used for Aconcagua climbers - very effective. Then she contacted the base camp via radio. The news she got from base camp was: judging from the satellite map, this snow storm might last for several days. So we'd better stay here until tomorrow, to wait for the snow storm to pass."

"We stayed in the haven for 24 hours, but the wind is still very strong, the snow
storm has not passed yet, so I guess we might have to stay here for another day.

Wednesday, March 28: Stuck

"One pleasant surprise - Bobbie cooked Chinese rice for me for dinner. It's instant rice, just like instant noodles, which they bought from a local supermarket specially for me. Another pleasant surprise is: Bobbie cooked an Italian-style meal for us, because her ancestors were from Italy. She told me that many Argentineans are in fact descendants of immigrants from Italy and Spain, the original Inca people who lived in this land for thousands of years have now become a minority in Argentina.

In the afternoon, they contacted the base camp with the radio, the base camp told them that the strong wind might be weakened tomorrow, but the snowing might not be over, and the temperature will continue to drop to about -20˚C. So tomorrow, if the wind is not so strong, we might trek up a short distance then come back to stay in the same haven for the night. Anyway, this is a good chance for me to get some rest, because my headache and low fever have still not gone.

Today, we talked a lot about China, both Alexia and Bobbie are curious about China - they said they plan to visit China someday in the future. I told them, if they came to China, they should visit 3 great places: Beijing, Yunnan, and Tibet. I can see that they are very excited when talking about their future China tour. I hope they can choose Kunming as their honeymoon destination."

Tags: Jin Feibao, mountain climbing, Mt Aconcagua