Disabled adventurer plans to take on the dangerous Lop Nor desert after being stopped by the elements last year
Thwarted by bad weather and poor equipment last year, disabled writer Yin Xiaoxing is hoping to add to his epic journeys around China with the difficult 260km crossing of the Lop Nor desert.
'No man has crossed Lop Nor on foot. They have done it on motorised vehicles, on camels, but the few who have tried to cross on foot died there,' said the 33-year-old Jiangsu native - who will attempt the solo crossing in a wheelchair. Not that he is out to challenge nature.
'I will not do anything that will cost me my life. I cannot be certain that I will succeed but I am confident because I can draw on past experiences surviving in the wild. And I will make sure that I make full preparations for the crossing,' he said as he signed books about his travels at the Shangxia Jiu shopping centre in Guangzhou.
The proceeds from the books will go towards the 50,000 yuan he needs for the journey across the desert, the site of nuclear tests until 1996.
The costs include about 2,000 yuan for a specially built wheelchair light enough that it will not easily sink into the desert sand and, if it does, not too heavy that he cannot pull it out himself.
The book proceeds will also go towards helping two disabled people integrate into society.
