In May of 2025, Chinese hiker Zhu Guangyue began an enormous 4,000km solo hike from his home in Kangding, Sichuan, to China’s far western border in Xinjiang.
Known as Xiao Zhu on Chinese social media, Guangyue releases regular videos documenting his progress. Already nearly halfway into his journey, he has moved through western Sichuan and Qinghai and is now in Gansu. He is now walking through the Hexi Corridor, a narrow strip of arable land between the Mongolian and Tibetan plateaus. The area covers most of Gansu province and will lead him into the Gobi Desert.
Photo: Xiao Zhu
He has timed his hike through the Gobi well, with mild days topping out at around 25°C, though nighttime temperatures drop to near freezing.
In his most recent video, Guangyue is near Zhangye in Gansu. Taking the north bank of the Heihe River, he is walking through Zhangye National Wetland Park on his way to Jiquan, a city in the northwestern part of the state, roughly 200km away.
Zhu Guangyue’s rough route.
Some of the highlights of his trip include finding a yak apparently killed by a bear, snowstorms, and a stretch through the Qinghai mountains, during which he took on a Tibetan mastiff because he was concerned about wolves.
Returning to his birthplace
Guangyue’s route is personal, taking him from his current home to his birthplace in Xinjiang. After his parents passed away, he moved to Kangding in Sichuan. There, he marveled at the local mountain scenery and was inspired to start hiking by views of Gongga Mountain, the most isolated 7,000m peak in the world. By 2023, he had progressed to long, solo journeys, camping as he traveled. In 2024, Guangyue hiked 1,500km solo through the Himalaya, producing a video series documenting the journey.
He has broken his current route into two chunks. The first 2,000km took over eight months, and he eventually stopped in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, before starting the second half of his journey this July.
Photo: Xiao Zhu
Lei Diansheng
Guangyue’s journey has some parallels with China’s most famous long-distance walker, Lei Diansheng. Like Guangyue, Diansheng lost his parents early in life and subsequently decided to travel. Inspired by the 17th-century Chinese travel writer Xu Xiake, Diansheng set off from his home in Harbin in northeastern China in 1998. He spent 10 years on the road, visiting all 56 of China’s recognized ethnic groups and taking a winding route around the country. He apparently suffered 19 robberies, an avalanche, mudslides, and desert sandstorms during the decade on foot.
Diansheng finally stopped walking on November 8, 2008, after crossing 1,100km of the Lop Nur desert in Xinjiang over 31 days. With this last challenge, he had covered an astonishing 81,000km.
