lawrence of arabia

when the word “desert” came to me, I first thought of Lawrence of arabia. I still remember the chilling air-con at Michigan theater in the summer of 2022. during the intermission of this epic film, I rushed out of the movie theater only to feel some warm temperature, and to get a break from the epic journey of Lawrence.

when I signed myself up for the tengri desert hike, that film didn’t immediately occur to me. though, when I stood on the endless desert, Lawrence came to me. there’s one scene in the movie, where lawrence was almost swallowed by a sandstorm. fortunately we did not experience that.

I had a blast during my very first time out in the inner Mongolia of china. if you didn’t know me, I hadn’t returned to china for about 4 years. I first landed in Shanghai and then I embarked on this hiking trip to tengger desert.

a close friend and mentor of mine once made an insightful remark about my passion for outdoor. they said that activities such as yoga, backpacking, weightlifting never reject anyone—this is utterly true, and i second that wholeheartedly. sports don’t have a lot of gatekeepers. unlike disciplines in the humanities and arts, outdoor activities welcome everyone. maybe the most authentic embodiment of the ideal city lies in the outdoor adventure.

anyhow, the plan is to finish a 52-km hike within about 70 hours in the tengger desert. i feel tremendously honored to have joined a group of energetic, fun people. our vibe was unbelievably good—despite that we had never met each other before this trip. i think that is all that matters—being surrounded by good energy.

before the hike started, especially when I first got off the plane in Ningxia, I had reservations, to be honest. the pollution in the air—haze, or whatever that was—seriously put me off. second of all, when I told the cab driver that I came for the desert hike, the driver made the suggestion that the hike had only become popular in recent years due to marketing plus an extra bit of luck. in a word, the driver didn’t think that was worth the efforts! I usually put great faith in cab drivers, in particular when it comes to where to eat and and where to visit in a strange place. therefore, I was a little disappointed, knowing that I might have been fooled by cheap tourism schemes.

that’s not the case at all!

my first time having lamb feet. it was good.