Chinese adventurer forced to survive on grass and roots after being stranded on Tibetan Plateau

A Chinese man who set out to cycle across the Tibetan Plateau was forced to eat grass and roots to survive after he ran out of food during his 50-day adventure, according to media reports.

Feng Hao, from Hangzhou in the east of the country, also had to dodge a pack of wolves he encountered in the wilderness, one of the largest uninhabited areas in China.

Feng had set off on a cycle tour of the Qiangtang Nature Reserve that covers large areas of Tibet and Qinghai with his girlfriend Lin Xi and another friend, Li Zhisen, on March 5, Red Star News reported.

But 10 days into the tour the twenty-something told his companions that he wanted to finish the journey on his own and cycled off, taking more than a dozen packs of dried food and six bottles of liquefied gas with him.

But while roaming the remote and uninhabited area his supplies started running low and his bicycle became stuck in the mud, forcing him to try to reach safety on foot.

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The trio had set off from Ngari prefecture in western Tibet, and planned to travel east across the reserve and exit on the Qinghai side.

A few days after Feng set off on his own, his two companions started trying to find him and by early April they were worried enough about his safety in the harsh alpine basin that they contacted police.

Rescuers spent more than two weeks looking for him – covering around 900km (560 miles) at altitudes of up to 5,000 metres, according to the report – before they finally found him sheltering in an abandoned truck near Wulanwula Lake in Qinghai on Sunday.

Li told the newspaper that Feng had run out of supplies a week before he was found and had to eat grass, roots and anything else he could find to survive.

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“He said his bicycle was stuck. It was really dangerous,” one of the police officers who found him told China National Radio. “Feng also said he ran into some wolves, but he was fine.”

Fend did not require medical treatment after his ordeal, only water and some rest.

By the time he was found, his two companions had already left the reserve.

However, because the local authorities have banned travel in the area the trio were each fined 5,000 yuan (US$740) by Tibet’s Anduo county.

Li has already paid the fine, but Feng and Lin are appealing against the decision in a local court.