China’s Bear Grylls Junior? Runaway boy, 10, survives on snake and berries for 24 days
Fearless youngster buys and sells scrap, and brews his own health tonics during month-long road trip
An intrepid 10-year-old boy from southern China who survived on barbecued snake and wild berries for almost a month after running away from home has been reunited with his family, mainland media reported.
The youngster, identified only as Miao, left his home in Xuanwei, Guizhou province, on June 29 after being given a beating by his father, news portal Yunnan.cn reported on Saturday.
He said his plan was to get as far away from his parents as possible, so he set off for the megacity of Chongqing, a distance of more than 800km, with no money but bags of determination.
Over the next 24 days he covered about 100km and the survival skills he demonstrated along the way would not have been out of place on a Bear Grylls adventure programme.
After a bumpy start – Miao said he spent his first night alone “on a pile of wet leaves” and didn’t eat for over 24 hours – he soon began to acclimatise to life on the road.