letters

I came across an album of photos put online by a charity group last year and was appalled by the inhumane condition of some of the poorest in this country. It is hard to believe that in a time when I and people around me complain about bad traffic or plan summer vacations in Europe for our kids， some people deep in the mountains of Guizhou Province are still struggling to fill their stomachs and their children trudge a dozen miles to school every day in shoes that may fall apart at any moment.

I packed a big box of my sons clothes and sent it to the address on the website， but I know thats far from enough and that individual sympathy and action， even added up， is not a once-and-for-all solution. China has had a national poverty-eradicating program in place for decades， and remarkable achievements have been made. It is， however， a good reminder for both policymakers and average citizens that there remain some corners yet to be reached by these efforts， and every member of this society is obliged to do their bit to help those who are born into and mired in extreme poverty.

Zheng Lan

Shanghai， China

Yesterday I walked by a real estate agency in my neighborhood and noticed that there wasnt a single apartment selling for less than RMB 1.5 million. Now the rent of the smallest one-bedroom apartment in my area has exceeded RMB 2，500 a month. This means many recent college graduates must have less than RMB 1，000 a month left after paying their rent. Such rates， for purchase or rent， are insane. When people have to fork out such a huge chunk of their earnings on housing， the share for other needs is squeezed. Peoples desire to spend is quenched， and the demand for other commodity goods is pinched. The real estate sector is suffocating the whole economy.

Han Mingjun

Beijing， China

Five Peking University students lost their lives in an avalanche when climbing the 8，000-meter high Mt. Shisha Pangma in Tibet in 2002. And almost every year we hear about people who are trapped， injured or even killed on adventures in the great wilderness. I used to see no point in the risks people take when they decide to participate in extreme sports that might result in devastating losses to their families and communities.

But after reading “Pedaling on the Horizon – Tibet to Xinjiang by Bicycle” I came to understand the motivations of these adventurers– the call of the wilderness， the rediscovered bond with nature， the rare sense of freedom and the test of body and mind， that all beckon to urban dwellers living a formatted life. Riding alone for hundreds of miles in thin air is definitely no pleasure， but it is both empowering and humbling – simultaneously exposing the capacity and strength of individuals and their limits and weakness in the face of nature.

Li Gui

Hunan Province， China