A national tragedy showed Zhang Xinyu how fragile human existence can be, and he's reshaped his life to make the most of it, Tang Zhe reports.

Like most young men living in the metropolis, Zhang Xinyu was once busy making money after he retired from military service in 1998. He owned two trading companies and he lived a comfortable life with his girlfriend, Liang Hong, whom he has known for 28 years.

He stuck to his daily routine for almost 10 years, until the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province in 2008.

Greatly affected as he watched the aftermath on TV, Zhang organized an eight-man assistance team to the disaster zone. The group was dispatched to the frontline because of their professional equipment. However, he never expected his own life would be changed completely after that 15-day rescue effort.

"I was an assiduous businessman before 2008, and my life was making money day by day," says the 35-year-old. "We went to Hanwang town, we saw children's bodies lying on the playground, it was startling and reminded me how fragile life is.

"I was totally changed when I came back. I told my family I want to find my own way. I have dreams, and I need to complete my dreams, and they supported me," he says.

Zhang and Liang started to learn an array of skills, obtaining a stack of licenses including flying, diving and sailing, and began a new life of expeditions with a journey to the Russian community of Oymyakon, one of the candidates for the title "Northern Pole of Cold" with the lowest registered temperature of -71.2 C in January 2012.

"When we were learning sailing abroad, a foreign crew mentioned that someone used to camp out in Oymyakon, but he said a Chinese can never accomplish that," Liang says. "That roused our competitive hearts, and we decided to start from there."

By midnight on their first night of camping, it was -52 C. To avoid hypothermia, they had to wake up every hour during the 10 hours of darkness, asking each other the simplest mathematic questions to confirm their consciousness and make sure their toes and fingers were wiggling.

The couple and photographer Wei Kai were granted an achievement certificate by local residents after they accomplished the challenge. The locals told the trio they were the first Chinese they'd ever seen in Oymyakon in winter.

In May, the expedition team welcomed another member, Zeng Qiao, and launched its next tour to Somalia, a country plagued by wars and conflicts for decades.

The quartet visited the capital city Mogadishu with flak vests, rifles and bodyguards, trying to find Chinese elements in the African country, which established diplomatic ties with China in 1960.

News of their arrival spread across the city, thanks to locals who once had connections with China. The visitors found a recording of Chinese revolutionary songs taped by Somalis in 1986 at the local TV station. They visited the hospital, which was built with the aid of China in the 1980s with distinct elements of Chinese architecture of that time. They met people who had worked for Chinese companies and showed employee cards they had preserved.

They also attended the opening of Somalia's first new bank since the civil war shattered much of the country's financial infrastructure, and opened an account there.

Next, the adventure seekers entered the sealed zone around the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine in August. They believe they are the first Chinese to take a video of the area after the catastrophic nuclear accident in 1986.

Then they ventured to Ambrym in Vanuatu, one of the most active volcanoes of the New Hebrides volcanic arc, at the end of November. Zhang descended 275 meters into the Marum volcano cone after donning gear to protect himself from a continuous shower of acid rain.

Only New Zealand explorer Geoff Mackley had previously lowered himself to such a depth into Marum - 400 meters in that case - after waiting for more than 30 days for more pleasant weather.

Based on the knowledge they acquired from China's national volcano research center before departure, Zhang also collected a small ball of "Pele's hair", a kind of volcano glass fiber, which is difficult to gather and transport because of its fragility, and contributed it to the center.

Living in a way so different from most Chinese, the adventure seekers are often questioned about their activities.

"Some people asked if we are crazy. We treat the expeditions as a kind of lifestyle," Liang says. "Everyone has the power to chase his dream."

Regarding safety, Liang says their expeditions focus on controlling risk. "Our team always gathers lots of scientific knowledge and makes full preparation before each journey," she says.

They spent four months preparing for the Chernobyl trip, studying about medical treatment, radioactivity protection, and how to deal with nuclear exposure. They prepared a whole year before heading to Marum, researching all the possible difficulties and how to react.

Photographer Zeng, 35, quit his office job and devoted himself to their adventures. He met Zhang while volunteering during the earthquake rescue in 2008, and has been working with Liang in Beijing to support Zhang's team.

"I should live a stable life at my age, but I left my parents and went on the journeys, which contain many dangers," Zeng says. "I hide nothing from my parents: I explained our purpose, the dangers and the meaning of the journey, and they are very sensible and supportive.

"For me, life experiences are the most precious fortune," he says. "To walk this road with like-minded friends, it gives me lots of happiness inside, never mind if I have no income in this process."

The explorers' expeditions were presented recently in nine 30-minute episodes on the Travel Channel.

"We have many travelers going to different places of the world, but their destinations are very special, and hard to access for normal people, some even impossible for our production unit," says Zhang Min, chief editor of the program. "Their materials are exclusive, and it's very eye-opening for our audiences."

The "Seeker Chinese" will launch their next tour, to the South Pole, this year. They will pilot a non-powered sailboat across the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to the South Pole, stopping for in-depth visits to different regions while passing through more than 30 cities in more than 20 countries during the voyage.

The trip will cover more than 20,000 nautical miles and will take one-and-a-half years.

The team plans to complete a 52-episode documentary film in the journey. Zhang and Liang will also hold their wedding at the South Pole.

There will be difficulties, challenges, even suffering in any expedition, Liang says. "But that is one of its joys.

"We have never thought of giving up, because this is our dream, and it's a wonderful thing to persist in your dream."

Contact the writer at tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 01/10/2013 page20)