Viral photos of 15 Sichuan schoolchildren climbing an 800-meter cliff every two weeks just to go to school in Atuleer Village using a rickety bamboo stairs became a hit story in social media. The kids were praised for their dedication to learn despite the challenge they need to surmount.
In Jiangxi Province, a four-year-old girl who walks 15 to 20 kilometers a day is also the talk in Chinese social media. However, Pan Wen Wen walks as a backpacker with her parents who decided their daughter would delay attending kindergarten for two years.
Wen Wen started to walk that long when she was only 15 months old. At that time, she had difficulty coping with her parent’s backpack journey. However, as she grew older, the child got used to the daily walk across China that she could keep up with her parents who now do 30 kilometers a day, sleeping in tents and subsisting on herbs, reported Womenofchina.
However, when Wen Wen’s story became viral, the child’s parents were criticized for placing bigger priority on fulfilling their wanderlust over the value of education. The parents plan to trek around China for two more years, after which they would enroll Wen Wen in primary school. In the meantime, they are preparing for their next trekking trip to Tibet.
Among the places the family has been through as Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan, according to Stuff.co.nz.
Ironically, many Chinese parents are worried about their kids hooked on gadgets at an early age at the cost of enjoying the outdoors, while struggling with weight problems.