Disabled mother, son complete hard trek
Source: Xinhua |
October 20, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A YOUNG man who completed a 100-day journey pushing his wheelchair-bound mother to the holiday destination of her dreams is being lauded online.
Fan Meng, 26, traveled on foot with his mother Kou Minjun all the way from Beijing to Xishuangbanna in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
On their arrival on Thursday, they were welcomed by ethnic dances and songs by local residents.
The 3,500-km slog allowed Kou, who suffers from infantile paralysis and has not left Beijing for many years, to realize a long-held ambition of visiting the beautiful Xishuangbanna.
Along the way, Fan kept a blog, which was avidly followed by netizens.
Fan's mother divorced 10 years ago and has been living with her son, getting by with government subsidies and generous aid from relatives.
Asked by The Beijing News earlier why he did not take a plane or a train, Fan said then they would have missed the view on the way. He said his mother had agreed if it became too difficult on the way, they would take a train.
Also, he said he was surviving on 20 yuan (US$3.20) a day. He gave up his job several months ago for the trek.
Kou said she knew Xishuangbanna through TV programs and newspapers, but, "without my son, I was afraid I would never have made it here."
Life has not been easy for her son either. Fan's girlfriend abandoned him prior to his trip. He changed several jobs over the past six years and was not satisfied with his last job as a salesperson of an electronics firm.
"In the face of so much pressure in my life, I had always wanted to find a way to relax myself and have some space and time to think on my own," said Fan.
He originally planned to walk to the vast grasslands in north China's Inner Mongolia. Knowing her son's idea, Kou agreed to travel with him but pushed for Xishuangbanna instead. On July 8, he decided to walk with his mother and his dog "Butterfly" to Xishuangbanna.
Early in the morning of July 11, mother, son and their canine companion left their home in Chaoyang District in Beijing and started their long journey. They passed through Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. To sleep, they bunked down in their own tent or at cheap hotels.
Fan Meng, 26, traveled on foot with his mother Kou Minjun all the way from Beijing to Xishuangbanna in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
On their arrival on Thursday, they were welcomed by ethnic dances and songs by local residents.
The 3,500-km slog allowed Kou, who suffers from infantile paralysis and has not left Beijing for many years, to realize a long-held ambition of visiting the beautiful Xishuangbanna.
Along the way, Fan kept a blog, which was avidly followed by netizens.
Fan's mother divorced 10 years ago and has been living with her son, getting by with government subsidies and generous aid from relatives.
Asked by The Beijing News earlier why he did not take a plane or a train, Fan said then they would have missed the view on the way. He said his mother had agreed if it became too difficult on the way, they would take a train.
Also, he said he was surviving on 20 yuan (US$3.20) a day. He gave up his job several months ago for the trek.
Kou said she knew Xishuangbanna through TV programs and newspapers, but, "without my son, I was afraid I would never have made it here."
Life has not been easy for her son either. Fan's girlfriend abandoned him prior to his trip. He changed several jobs over the past six years and was not satisfied with his last job as a salesperson of an electronics firm.
"In the face of so much pressure in my life, I had always wanted to find a way to relax myself and have some space and time to think on my own," said Fan.
He originally planned to walk to the vast grasslands in north China's Inner Mongolia. Knowing her son's idea, Kou agreed to travel with him but pushed for Xishuangbanna instead. On July 8, he decided to walk with his mother and his dog "Butterfly" to Xishuangbanna.
Early in the morning of July 11, mother, son and their canine companion left their home in Chaoyang District in Beijing and started their long journey. They passed through Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. To sleep, they bunked down in their own tent or at cheap hotels.
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