Ever since I was deeply moved by Yang Liu Song's post about his solo bike journey through the wilderness, ten years have passed since my third departure. In the winter of 2014, for the first time, I cycled on the rural roads north of the Great Northern Line, trying to get closer to this beautiful land. Like Yang Liu Song, I encountered continuous reports in the northern part of Gêrzê County and was forced to retreat a long way. Now, a national highway G216 has been newly built from the northern part of Gêrzê to Xinjiang, and various corresponding facilities are being rapidly constructed. The snowstorms in December bury everything in northern Tibet, and even when cycling in the pastoral areas, I often cover only a few tens of kilometers a day. At that time, I didn't know that a person named Li Congming was making a difficult journey to my north. Later, I often thought that when he reached Lê Xêwu Lake after enduring much hardship, he might have run out of supplies and physical strength. He could have encountered heavy snow and had a hard time finding his way from the camp. In the last two or three days of his life, his camping spot did not change. What was he thinking, was he in despair, did he regret?
In mid-December of 2014, northern Tibet was cold, vast, and barren. Walking in it, there was a kind of enjoyment that came from a shared temperament, but if one were to truly traverse Qiangtang at this time of year, it would be extremely dangerous.
After arriving in Lhasa, I heard a piece of news from a friend that I couldn't calm down for a long time: Yang Xiaofei went missing last March while crossing the Yarlung Tsangpo around Namcha Barwa. He and I are from the same city. I got to know him last year when I read his two posts here: 'Qiangtang Past, Autumn Heavy Crossing of Qiangtang.' and 'Top Outdoor, Pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.' Although we didn't communicate much, I could feel from his writing that he was a person with a calm and strong inner spirit. He could endure spending four days to cross the 20 kilometers south of Guoza Wrong, including one kilometer that took ten hours.
