Father and Daughter Walk 1600km to Beijing

Feng Chao and his 12-year-old daughter Feng Yidan arrived at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on July 22, after walking 1600 kilometers from Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, the Beijing Times reported Tuesday.

Feng believes his daughter is more compliant and strong-minded after the long journey. Three other children joined their hike, sent by their parents in order to discipline them.

 Feng Chao (R) with the four kids. They arrived in Beijing after a long trek. Photo: Beijing Times

Feng was a businessman in Luoyang. He found his daughter lacked confidence when she was in the second grade in elementary school. After talking with her several times, he made a surprising decision and took his daughter out of school.

"I wanted her to get away from the endless homework and lead a free and easy life," Feng said.

The girl is twelve years old, and her birth year is the year of fate according to the Chinese zodiac. So Feng thought of the hike to Beijing as a special gift for the girl. "This is not only a commemoration of her age, but also a chance to strengthen her physical and mental competence," he said.

After four days of training in the provincial capital Zhengzhou, the father and daughter started their trip. They walked from Xinxiang, Henan up to the north, passing by Handan, Shijiazhuang and Baoding in Hebei Province, and arrived at last in Beijing.

Whenever they came to cities, people got to know the father's special educational method through reports from local media. Some parents sent their children to him to join in the group.

In Shijiazhuang, Feng took in the 13-year-old Ma Zixuan, a boy who Feng believed was lazy, had low tolerance for physical work, and other bad habits typical of urban children.

According to the paper, Ma changed a lot throughout the hike. He suffered a fever shortly after joining the team, but he kept walking with the group without complaining. This made his father happy when Feng told him about the boy's condition.

Another two children have also made satisfactory progress. They used to be reluctant to speak to strangers, but now they are "tactful in asking the way" and have more conversations with others, Feng told the newspaper.

Feng believes that all children are smart, and parents should try to develop their potential. "We must change ourselves and learn more, so as to lead the children in the right way," he said.

(Source:China Daily,By Li Qian)