Walkers get healthy as kilometers multiply

Residents enjoy participating in a hiking activity organized by the Beijing Walking Association in Huairou district in September. Provided to China Daily

In 2002, when Jin Qiao set up Beijing Daily Hiking Center, one of the first non-governmental organizations in China to promote outdoor activities, hiking was far from the popular activity in Beijing it is today.

"Few people had knowledge of hiking, and we had to do various kinds of promotions such as chartering vehicles to transport hikers for free to attract people," said Jin, a longtime fan of outdoor activities.

Now more than 50,000 people have registered at the center, including more than 1,000 who take part in nearly all hiking activities, he said.

Most of the members are middle class groups in Beijing, including professionals such as college teachers, white collar workers and government employees, Jin said.

The center has been organizing hiking and outdoor activities every week in Beijing for the past few years, such as a jog held every Wednesday evening at Olympic Forest Park in Beijing.

Members have hiked almost every hill and mountain in and around Beijing. Some of them have gone farther, extending their footsteps as far as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in West China and the Rocky Mountains in the western United States.

Similar organizations promoting hiking have flourished in Beijing in recent years, with the number of frequent hikers increasing rapidly, said Gao Bin, vice-president of the Beijing Walking Association.

It is difficult to estimate the total number of hikers in Beijing, as many of them take part in the exercise independently, but every year at least 300,000 people take part in the 16 major hiking activities organized by the association annually, Gao said.

Hiking quickly became popular because it is easy and unlike other sports activities, it requires no equipment, Gao said.

There are more than 20 organizations and companies in Beijing that regularly organize and promote outdoor activities, including hiking, he said.

"The government has also increased investment and efforts to promote walking and hiking in recent years," he said. "The forestry and tourism authorities are working on new routes for hikers."

Widespread use of social media sites such as WeChat has also boosted the spread of hiking, Gao said.

"It has almost become a habit for many people to share their experience in hiking with their friends through WeChat," he said.

"New mobile phone apps have functions such as calculating how far they walk every day, and this can help them make better plans for exercise."

A healthy alternative

Yang Cheng, a senior manager at Amway Beijing, who joins various kinds of hiking activities, said he started to pick up the habit about five years ago, when medical checkups showed his cholesterol had risen to a dangerous level.

"I was too busy with work then and had to socialize frequently at dinner for business," he said.

Yang also does some other activities such as playing basketball occasionally when the weather permits, but he has kept walking almost every day at Yuyuantan Park near his home and hiking in the mountains in suburban Beijing during the weekends.

"I keep a mobile phone with me and walk fast until the app shows I have finished 10,000 steps every day," he said.

Yang said he has seen more people share the number of steps they finish every day on WeChat.

"The numbers have kept increasing, and a few months ago 10,000 steps per day was a very high mark, but it has become very common now," he said.

Yang attributes the rising popularity of walking and hiking to rising living standards brought by economic development in Beijing, and high pressure caused by heavy workloads in the metropolis.

"When I am in motion, I feel completely different, and my pressure is greatly relieved," he said.

Walking has helped bring his cholesterol to near normal levels and his mood has also improved, making him more optimistic and appreciative of the beauty of the nature, Yang said.

"But what bothers me is that many walking paths in Beijing are interrupted by roads," he said. "I hope the government can make more efforts to create a better environment for people to walk."

Gao said overall planning from the government is needed for the development of walking and hiking infrastructure in Beijing.

The forestry and tourism departments, for example, are making efforts to develop their own routes for walking, but routes should be connected to optimize their usefulness and bring maximum benefit to hikers, he said.

Back to nature

For Jin of the hiking center, hiking is not only a hobby that brings physical heath, it also purifies the mind and brings peace to the soul. Bringing people back to nature, to a large extent, can even help cure the diseases of modern society such as the excessive pursuit of material things, he said.

"By being exposed to Mother Nature, people can find peace and tranquillity in their innermost mind," he said.

Gao said promoting walking and hiking can help government efforts to conserve energy and fight air pollution.

"Promoting the concept of walking is promoting a healthy and green way of life," he said. "If more people chose to walk to their offices, fewer cars would be used."

Gao said his association plans to promote walking and hiking among students and teachers in Beijing this year.

"But we need support from related government departments," he said. "The government should realize promoting walking and hiking is not only promoting health, but also promoting a city's overall image and makes it more attractive."

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn