Hong Kong’s most famous explorer Rebecca Lee gave an intrepid young fan his start, and now he’s looking to range even further
- The first woman from Hong Kong to reach both the North and South poles and scale Mount Everest, Rebecca Lee is finally hanging up her exploring boots
- She helped Wilson Cheung get on his first polar expedition and he has now explored many of the world’s most remote regions – but space is his ultimate goal
![Handout image shows Hong Kong explorer Wilson Cheung Wai-yin, in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, 2017.[29SEPTEMBER2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Wilson Cheung Wai-yin](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2020/10/09/691a77f6-fd60-11ea-9bb5-57ca6b07e40a_972x_122557.jpg?itok=V-NwiStd&v=1602217567)
Having passed what many would consider a normal retirement age, Hong Kong explorer Dr Rebecca Lee Lok-sze is hanging up her boots, goggles, ski sticks and thermal underwear. Her passion for all things environmental, however, remains undiminished.
Lee has been showered with awards, including Hong Kong’s Medal of Honour, written a dozen books, and set up the Polar Museum Foundation. But now, she says, her days of saddling up and heading for the wide, blue, icy yonder are over.
“The cold never bothered me,” says the 70-something Lee, who was told she must have been an Inuit in a past life when she first visited Greenland.
“I was always well wrapped up and warm inside, so there was nothing to be scared of. And my feelings were centred on what I could discover wherever I went. But now – apart from the coronavirus that’s prohibiting going anywhere pretty much – I feel I’ve probably travelled enough.
“I’m getting my papers in order, passing them on to institutions for safe keeping, making digital copies of my slides. But there is so much to be done – climate change is wreaking havoc all around the world.”