14 DAY TRIAL // Not long ago, a man named He Liesheng and his son, 6-year-old He Yide, successfully completed a 1,800-mile (2,900-kilometer) hike across Lop Nur, a dried-up salt lake in China.
They were kept company by four other children and their families who, for some reason, thought it a good idea to embark on such a quest as well.
True, neither He Liesheng and his son, nor the other kids and their parents were in any way harmed during this journey. Still, they all admit that the experience was not all that pleasant.
A most bizarre hike
He Liesheng explains that, to cross the dried-up salt lake, the group had to travel mostly by car. Otherwise, the crystals sticking out of the ground in this part of China would have cut their feet.
At this point, some might argue that crossing a lake bed on four wheels rather than on your own two feet isn't such a big deal. Still, the fact of the matter is that, in Lop Nur, temperatures often fall below freezing point.
What's more, the hikers didn't complete the entire journey by car. On the contrary, the 6-year-old, his father and the other members of the group covered about 62 miles (nearly 100 kilometers) on foot.
While crossing Lop Nur, the daredevils only ate instant food. Each night, they would go looking for wood, which they used to make a fire and thus keep wolves at a distance. To keep warm, they spent their nights in pits dug into the lake bed.
He Liesheng says that, while on this hike, his son and the other children learned how to find food and water in extreme conditions and rely on the stars to find their way. Most importantly, they got stronger.
To make sure that the group would be safe, the man also had five guides accompany them on this journey. The guides carried both medicine and food, and helped them cope with the harsh conditions in this part of China.
The man is forever pushing his son
According to Oddity Central, 6-year-old He Yide was born prematurely. Hence, he was rather weak for about 2 months after birth and had to be kept into an incubator. Looking to help him get back on his feet, his father got busy training him almost as soon as he brought him home.
Thus, when just 10 days old, the boy had his first swimming lesson. At the age of 2, he was mountain climbing and jogging some 5 miles (3.2 kilometers) on a daily basis. Soon enough, his dad also made him take kung fu and kickboxing classes.
When He Yide was 4, his dad had him jog in the snow wearing nothing but undies, and a year later, the boy learned how to fly a plane. That's right, when just 5 years old, this kid flew an aircraft over China's Beijing Wildlife Park for about 35 minutes.
He Yide does not think he is doing anything wrong
The way He Yide sees things, he is doing his son a favor by having him go on one adventure after another while other kids are just sitting around, eating candy or watching cartoons. He claims that such adventures not only make the 6-year-old stronger, but also help him build character.
“When the baby eagle is old enough, the mother eagle would harshly push its baby down the cliff. When the baby eagle is plummeting, a survival instinct would make it flap its wings vigorously. Through this, the baby eagle acquires its basic survival skill – flying.”
“Yide is now in very good health. I also give him cold ice cream on cold winter days to train his stomach to get used to the cold. Besides the two months in the hospital when he was born, he never visited a hospital again,” the man told the press in an interview.
