Racing rivers

A rafting team floats along the Yellow River in a recent competition in the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Dangerous waters

The Chinese considered rafting extremely dangerous three decades ago. Hardly anyone did it until American explorer Ken Warren spent $300,000 buying the right to raft on the Yangtze in 1985.

The news prompted Yao Maoshu from Southwest China's Sichuan province to beat Warren to it.

Yao came to Yushu and rafted down the Yangtze from its source.

But he drowned in the Jinsha River the same year, after rafting roughly 1,200 kilometers.

Yao's feat sparked a wave of enthusiasm, and many followed in his wake.

Forty-six rafters spent roughly six months floating from the Yangtze's origin to Shanghai, where the river empties into the East China Sea, in 1986.

The following year, three Chinese teams arrived in Qinghai to conquer the Yellow River. Seven people died.

Yu joined the team from Beijing.

"Rafting the Yellow River is the greatest thing I've done," he says.

"It was challenging from the start. It was freezing. Many of us had altitude sickness."

Several sections were inaccessible to vehicles. Supplies weren't always available.

Some rafters went three days without food. They drank muddy water from the river.

Extreme weather often forced them to carry supplies and drag the rubber raft, especially when they encountered ice, rocks and shoals. Some rafters fell through the ice and died.

The three teams grew closer and cooperated during the adventure.

They arrived at the river's estuary in Shandong province after roughly six months.

China's rafting fever cooled in the following decade, Yu says.

Momentum returned in 1998, when people began to raft the Zhujiang and Yarlung Zangbo rivers.

"People were rational about rafting then. They'd bypass dangerous areas," Yu says.

Soon, rafts were floating along every safe stretch of the river.

Yu says rafting has helped him to deal with life and career difficulties.

The film producer has been involved in several blockbusters, including Monster Hunt and Shaolin.

He didn't think of the adventure as an aimless and bold undertaking but, rather, as a representation of China's spirit.

"I'm no pro athlete. But I'm proud of our accomplishment."