Mountaineer rescued after being lost for 9 days; officials call it a record

A mountaineer who went missing for nine days and eight nights on Cangshan Mountain in Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, was successfully rescued on July 28, setting a record for the longest search for a missing person on Cangshan Mountain, according to a local government official, as reported by local media on Tuesday.

A participant in the rescue said the local mountaineer was lost on the way down the mountain, and firefighters in Dali in addition to local civilian rescue teams of hundreds of people searched nine days and eventually finding the individual on a cliff, only 200 meters from the rescue team's set point of origin.

According to the rescuer, the person couldn't talk or move when found, but he is now recovering well and is able to walk again.

The mountaineer, a 45-year-old teacher, turned back halfway up the mountain due to physical exhaustion but got lost on the way down because he was unfamiliar with the road conditions, as it was his first time to take the trail, according to a member of the rescue team.

After calling police, firefighters told him to stay in place. However, when the firefighters arrived, they were unable to locate him, and subsequently lost contact with him. The rescuer added that the mountaineer probably attempted to descend down the valley, but lost his signal during descent.

"Nine days and eight nights are indeed very long. There was a person who was lost for about seven days before and managed to find his way out, but the person had brought a lot of food. However, the person who went missing this time only had a thin windbreaker and no food, it is truly a miracle," the rescuer said.

According to media reports, the rescuer speculated that the trapped person, in addition to better physical fitness, is also a biology teacher, who knows more about the local plants, and may have eaten available vegetation to remain conscious and mobile.

Fire officers and rescue teams reminded the public to plan their routes in advance, and to closely follow instructions from emergency personnel in the case they become lost or trapped.