To walk fast, walk alone; to walk far, walk together

Nine months ago, I made a New Year's resolution to go on 20-kilometer walks at least 20 times this year after I managed to cover that distance in suburban Brussels on Jan 1.

I posted my resolution on WeChat, a Facebook-like social media platform. Throwing a challenge at me after coming across my posting, my friend Alice Choi, Hong Kong's deputy representative of economics and trade in Brussels, urged me to join a 100-km Oxfam trail initiative at the end of August in the mountainous forests and reserved grasslands of Belgium, which borders German.

The basic idea, she said, was to form a team of four hikers to complete the distance in less than 30 hours to help raise funds for people in poor countries. I liked the challenge of the dual-purpose plan and felt honored to be of some help to people in need. I was confident of enduring the tough trek because I have the experience of walking long distances in my mountainous hometown in Sichuan province from the age of 10.

Soon after I decided to take up the challenge of covering 100 km within a certain time, Inese Duka, a Latvian interpreter working in Europe, and Heleen van Geest, a Dutch journalist, joined us, and our team－Hong Kong Can Do－took shape (because Choi's representative office partly sponsored the charitable activity).

Because of our busy schedules, we only had two face-to-face meetings and a 50-km trial hike before we started on the 100-km trek on Aug 29 with about 1,000 other hikers, whose aim was to raise at least €500,000.

Most of the hiking route was around the national park in Haute-Fagnes, Belgium, where the climate ranges from sub-alpine to sub-Arctic throughout the year. During the day, we walked through forests, hills, grasslands, and across rivers and narrow bridges, walking sticks in hand. On the first day, we succeeded in completing the first part of the trek together.

After enjoying the delicious food prepared by van Geest's husband, we filled our water bottles and began our night trek. Moonlight filtered through the birch and fir trees in the forest, the air was refreshing and cool, and the night serene. The power of nature in full splendor worked as a balm for my sore heels.

After three short breaks, we painstakingly but joyfully reached the final checkpoint, just 10 km from the finishing line, early in the morning. Having reached that point, we were sure of completing the mission despite Choi's painful knees that slowed her pace.

After another three hours, we touched the finishing line hand in hand in Eupen, capital of Belgium's German-speaking community where we had started nearly 28 hours ago. We were greeted with applause, hugs and medals.

What kept me focused throughout the trek was the simple saying "no pain, no gain", which van Geest kept murmuring. And Choi's perseverance was the much-needed booster. Van Geest's mother-in-law was also in the crowd to welcome us at the finishing line. She congratulated me, saying: brave young man, remember, no matter what happens in your life later, think about this 100-km adventure ... think of this trek and no obstacle will be too difficult to overcome.

She was right. I will never forget crossing the finishing line and it will encourage me on take up bigger challenges. The additional reward: our team helped the organizers raise more funds than they had expected.

The success of our team reminds me of an African saying: If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.

The author is China Daily chief correspondent in Brussels. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn