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In 2017,
A report on the old pole and the piglet family,
After the birth of their son Simba,
Did not buy a house, did not apply for preschool, spent 900,000,
Travel the world with kids.
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The old family of three has footprints all over the world
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When Simba was 5 years old, he became the youngest Chinese to antarctica
When Simba was 3 years old, he traveled through 12 countries to the North Pole to see polar bears.
At the age of 5, through South America,
Become the youngest Chinese to Antarctica.
Their story of circumnavigation of the globe has touched many people,
More than 1 million people liked the story,
Some people agree with their parenting concept of "having seen the world before they have a world view",
Some people also question what such "education" can leave behind.
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Old Pole and Piglet adhere to the parenting concept of "after seeing the world, only then can we have a world view"
What kind of life have they lived in these 5 years?
How did Simba grow?
The life of the school within the system, did he adapt?
How do the old pole and the little pig say goodbye to the anxious baby raising?
We made a return visit to LaoJi.
Readme: Old Pole
Editor: Chen Xing
Editor-in-charge: Ni Chujiao
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The Mirror of the Sky in Bolivia
I am Xu Chenghua, a director and traveler.
Our story infuriated a lot of people, and everyone went to forward it and said, "Isn't this daddy pulling hate?" "But it's really a true, ongoing story of travel and education."
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Experience a sauna in the Arctic
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See the UFO cloud at the South Pole
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The old pole family rides 12 countries, on the way to the Arctic
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Ride a sleigh in the Arctic
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Play ropes across the Grand Canyon
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Fish for demon piranhas in the Amazon
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Eat lobster in the Galapagos Islands
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Swing the world's highest swing in Ecuador
Along the way, Simba tried many things that were not in the textbooks: hot air balloon rides in Turkey, Myanmar, Laos; See rare UFO clouds in Antarctica; Piranha fishing in the Amazon; Eat lobster in the Galapagos Islands; In Ecuador, swing the highest swing in the world...
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In Laos, Simba made a French friend
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The girl was met by Simba in The Kurds of Iran, and Simba chased and chatted with her every day
Playing all the way, learning languages along the way, speaking English when going to the Arctic, speaking Spanish in South America, he can communicate with foreign children of the same age without obstacles, and has developed more than 20 dreams, such as growing up to fly a plane, being a police officer who protects animals, being a football player, a skier, being a photographer...
But Simba's biggest change was his personality.
When I was young, my father still hugged my mother, but I ate and slept outside, often getting up at 5:00 and climbing a mountain for several hours to the edge of a cliff, just to see the first rays of the sun shine on the snowy mountain. After the journey, he became more cheerful, optimistic and strong.
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Simba and Mom Piggy
Almost everyone will ask us how much it cost to travel the world, and what kind of family is your family itself?
I'll be honest, my wife and I were both born into very ordinary Chinese families. My income came mainly from filming and writing books, and my wife was an engineer, and we had accumulated savings together for several years.
When I went to the North Pole and the South Pole, a total of 900,000 yuan was spent, probably just a bathroom in Shanghai. When we return to China, there will be about 300,000 left, which is not very rich, but if our desire to live is reduced, it is actually enough to maintain daily expenses.
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Lao Ji chose Qiandao Lake to settle temporarily, because there are mountains and lakes there
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Everyday life in Qiandao Lake: rest, boating, enjoying nature
After returning from the North Pole and the South Pole, we want to have a short period of calm and rest in life.
We moved to Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou, where there are mountains, lakes, and more than 1,000 islands, which is a natural environment that we all like. Every day is very simple, reading, writing, editing, rowing, and precipitating everything we see.
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Simba, who was just in the first grade, was very embarrassed by his homework
Simba entered the first grade of elementary school, his school was a public elementary school, and every day I spent 10 minutes walking him to school.
Simba started out in a bit of a dazed state, particularly embarrassed. He did not attend the transition class from kindergarten to kindergarten, and he did not know Chinese characters until he went to school. He said all day, "Dad, why is pinyin more difficult to learn than English and Spanish?" ”
In the first half of the first year, he was the bottom of the class, but about the second half of the first year, his grades quickly caught up. I think Simba is still very adaptable.
Everyone knows that he had such a very cool experience. But I told him that he could share, but not to show off, and to treat his life with a normal attitude.
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Simba and his sister have a good relationship
When we were in Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou, his mother became pregnant with his sister.
Simba looked at his mother's belly every day and said, Dad, if it is a younger brother, I will name him "Xu Kung Fu Shaolin", or "Xu Kung Fu Boy", so that you can play fights with me and learn martial arts. If it was my sister, I could travel on my back.
After my sister was born, the first person to call was not her father and mother, but her brother. Simba is a particularly warm older brother, who often changes his sister's diaper, warms the bottle, and often holds her.
A son and a daughter are a perfect state for my life.
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On the drive from Hangzhou to Dali, Simba took photos along the way
On the fifteenth day of the outbreak, we thought it might not end soon, so the family drove from Hangzhou all the way to Dali and decided to settle there.
I came to Dali because there are wind and snow, Cangshan Erhai, and many friends who are tolerant and relaxed. I think children should grow up in places where the natural environment is particularly good.
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Dali's life and gameplay are diverse, including concerts and bonfire evenings
We rented the house as quickly as we could and arranged everything for the kids. Now, our family often climbs cangshan together, rowing boats in the Erhai Sea, going to see various plants, birds, and even bonfire evenings at night.
Dali has a lot of play, life, and learning that could not be compared or owned in big cities before.
In the three years of the epidemic, our children have not attended online classes or quarantined. Simba happily reads his elementary school every day.
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Outdoor day activities
Simba is an innovative school in Dali, with normal classes from Monday to Thursday, and outdoor and natural days in the school on Fridays. On Saturdays and Sundays, he can choose his own hobbies, such as rafting, horse riding, boating, mountaineering, learning theater... Simba has more room to play in Dali.
In my opinion, whether it is public, international, innovative, or even homeschooling, there is no perfect education, and the most important thing is to suit your children and families.
I believe that when he was a child, everything Simba encountered that he learned, what he came into contact with, may become the so-called possibility when he was eighteen or nineteen years old.
We can't simply lock him up in books, in schools, in grades, then there's only one possibility.
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Simba rides a horse in Dali
For example, he learned to ride a horse, the first few times he was very happy, and after 5 times, he may be less interested, and he will start to make excuses, saying that the weather is too hot, and retreating.
At this time, I will intervene, comfort him from the mentality, support him in behavior, and practice horseback riding with him.
As a parent, I want to give him more environment and space to experience what he really likes. After Simba tried a lot, much, his inner drive would push him to work hard.
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Simba to the third pole of the world, the Tibetan Plateau
Simba often watches geography and travel documentaries around the world, and I think documentaries are a very good way to educate. And I also hope that he can read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.
At the age of 8, he suddenly had an idea to see the third pole of the world (Mount Everest).
At that time, he was already in the third grade of elementary school, and he could already feel the differences in the world and cultures very keenly.
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Before setting off, Simba wrote about his dreams of going to the Third Pole
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This trip, neither my sister nor my mother went, and it became a solo trip between Lao Ji and Simba's father and son
Simba and I sat shoulder to shoulder in front of the computer, doing raids. Before setting off, he wrote dozens of dreams in his little book, mountaineering, rafting, horseback riding, photographing snow leopards, horse racing with Tibetan children, collecting several gems...
At that time, because my sister was too young, my mother could not follow, and I had a separate trip between father and son for the first time with Simba. Before leaving, Simba and his sister clinged to each other, tears flowing like a storm, one after another.
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The trip passed through Tibet, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Sichuan, all of which were dangerous places
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Look for many rare plants of the plateau
I took him 8,700 kilometers by car, traveled a lot in Tibet, Qinghai, Yunnan, sichuan, climbed snowy mountains, drifted big rivers, photographed rare wild animals snow leopards, and went to find a lot of beautiful plateau flowers and plants.
Simba is like a battery, you need all kinds of activities and exercises every day to drain the power, otherwise he will consume me.
He has been climbing mountains since he was a child, often in Georgia, in Chile, and in Dali. One of the things he always wanted to do was challenge a bigger snowy mountain.
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Before dawn, Simba began to climb the snow-capped mountains
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Little Simba because of the hardships of the climb, "the macho man shed tears"
The first stop, we arrived at Shangri-La, Yunnan, a place called Haba Snow Mountain, at an altitude of 5396 meters. For an 8-year-old child, climbing a snow-capped mountain is indeed very difficult.
The weather was particularly bad that day, it was raining and foggy. He couldn't get out of breath and was physically exhausted. We had been leaving since the wee hours of the morning, and he couldn't walk anymore and cried at me.
The moment he cried, he thought of his sister, and he asked me: Dad, if I can't climb up, can't I video with my mother at the top of the mountain?
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After reaching the top, Simba video with his mother and sister
I said, yes, but we can go down the hill, no problem, and if it doesn't work out, we'll come back next time. But he looked at the snowy mountain, pointed his hand to the top of the mountain, and said, "I'm going to climb up, and when I reach the top, I'm going to video with my mother and sister." ”
At that moment, as an old father, seeing his child in such a great state, he walked up the mountain step by step. I was really impressed.
Simba's most impressive impression is at the foot of Mount Everest. It was the scene of the evening sun shining on the Golden Mountain, the whole snowy mountain was white and flawless, and he sat there quietly watching. He kept talking about being beautiful and looking back at me.
I think that we should take our children to see some open things, so that children know that the world is so wonderful, and the world is so worthy of passionate efforts to live.
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Simba follows the river explorer Wang Bing adrift
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Simba falls into the water while drifting, which is very thrilling for a while
As my child grew older, I felt more and more that my educational ability was insufficient, so I hoped that more energetic people would lead him spiritually and behaviorally. Along the way, Simba met many excellent and outstanding teachers.
Wang Bing, a river explorer who has paddled more than 4,000 kilometers from the source of the Yellow River to the tail of the Yellow River, has rowed boats on 70 or 80 rivers in China and engaged in the protection of the ecological environment. Simba, accompanied by him, went rafting.
While we were drifting, Simba wrestled in the big waves and even overturned the boat. He said: "Dad, I think bravery is not not to be afraid, but to be afraid and then insist on doing it." ”
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Simba follows Xi Zhinong to photograph wildlife
Xi Zhinong is a famous wildlife photographer in China, engaged in field photography for nearly 40 years, successively photographing Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys, Tibetan antelopes, etc., and has been photographing snow leopards in Qinghai for several years. He taught Simba to photograph wildlife, letting Simba feel the beauty of the forest and the diversity of life.
Xi Zhinong said: "In today's China, no one will be starved to death because they can't eat the meat of wild animals, and no one will be frozen to death because they don't wear animal fur, so we have no reason to harm wild animals." ”
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Simba has seen different wild animals around the world, and it becomes Simba's desire to protect them
Simba has walked around the world and seen polar bears, elephants, penguins, and he is very touched by Xi Zhinong's words. So one of the things Simba always wanted to do was photograph wildlife and let people protect it.
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From an early age, Simba began to learn how to row
Some people say that I often take my children on adventures.
But in fact, I think what we do is adventure, not adventure. Because expeditions are very scientific and technically prepared.
For example, this rafting, in fact, Simba has been learning to row and swim since he was 5 years old, and he has experienced a lot of sailing training. Outside the camera, I and a few other uncles act as rescue boats, 20 or 30 meters away from him at any time. Even if the ship capsizes, we can drag him up as fast as we can.
Mountaineering, which is also Simba's training from 2000 meters, 3000 meters, 4000 meters, 5000 meters, is a gradual process.
In the past, mountaineering, horseback riding, rafting, skiing, most of them were taught by me. In fact, the trip to the third pole is a verification, just an explosion of what he has learned.
I encourage my child to do some adventures appropriately to make his mental threshold higher and more mature.
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Simba learns while playing, and he plays while learning
For Simba now, I think learning and playing are just as important.
Grades, we think is good. Now that he is still in elementary school, at this stage, we still want him to maintain curiosity and drive.
Because I see many children in the elementary school stage, the enthusiasm for learning has been exhausted. What is the use of transcripts alone as a standard? I think learning is everywhere.
Coming back from the Third Pole, the first change in him was to be more curious.
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Simba plays with Tibetan children
In Tibet, when he saw the long sleeves of the Tibetans, he called Tashi Delek, and when he saw the Bai people wearing beautiful costumes and being able to sing and dance, he danced with them.
The second is that he prefers to read. The first time Simba went to the desert, he was holding a bouquet of sand in his hand, and the wind blew the sand. He read a sentence in his mouth: "The desert is lonely and straight, and the long river is full of sunset." ”
Reading and walking are all together. When you take your child to the real world, his understanding of the world and books is very profound. The more things he sees, the more inspiration he has and the richer his thoughts.
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Simba's dream is to be a photographer
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Simba's photographic work
As mentioned earlier, he has dozens of dreams, but what he may stick to is to become a photographer. He started taking pictures when he was 3 years old. This time in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, I can carry a 600 zoom lens. He said that in the future, if you want to become a photographer, you can play and shoot all over the world.
When I saw him, I remembered me and my father before. My father was a geography teacher in elementary school, and he hadn't been to so many places, but the walls of our house were maps of China, maps of the world.
When I saw these strange places when I was a child, I thought I must travel everywhere and become a traveler like Xu Xiake. There are more than 200 countries and regions in the world, and I want to leave footprints in every place in my lifetime, and see every wonderful moment of this world.
Maybe the seeds I planted in Simba's heart will sprout one day.
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Old Pole and Simba are more like buddies
I feel like Simba and I are more like buddies, friends who share weal and woe. He would often say, "My dad used to pit me." "Actually, I think it's pretty good.
Along the way, I have also made a lot of mistakes, and I have had some contradictions with him, but after I was wrong, I would immediately discuss with him, apologize to him, and he could accept it very peacefully.
It made me think about how I could be a good dad myself.
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When he was in the Arctic, after looking for a polar bear for a long time, Lao Ji decided to pretend to be a polar bear to play with Simba
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Lao Ji and Piggy agreed that the chicken baby was not as good as the chicken itself
In many Chinese education today, parents have always wanted their children to be good, excellent, unique and different.
In fact, these requirements should be more demanding of ourselves. You live beautifully, you fulfill your dreams, you become a role model for your child, and when the child hears it, his internal drive will make him better.
I used to love to travel alone and I loved extreme sports. In 2006, I met my wife, Piggy. We have similar interests and the same view. Our personalities are very complementary, my personality is like a volcano, every day is passionate, she is like a lake on a plateau, quiet, not moving like water.
We agree that children should be educated about outdoors and sports.
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"When a child feels that Mom and Dad are a growth type, he will also grow"
Set off to the North Pole, the South Pole, our division of labor, especially simple, I am responsible for driving, carrying a big bag, holding a child, etc., my wife is usually responsible for taking a camera to record and shoot. Together, we used our own feet to walk through the world.
Piggy and I are both being mom and dad for the first time, and we are willing to change and learn what we are doing wrong. When a child feels that Mom and Dad are a growth type, he will also grow.
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Lao Ji made 8 years of travel and growth experience into a movie
I've made eight years of education and growth that my family has traveled to the three poles of the world into a movie called "Growing Up With You All Over the World," which is coming soon.
This documentary film has also won many awards abroad. The foreign judges have some prejudices, thinking that we Asians are all champions of mathematics and physics, and we only know how to read books all day long.
When they see Simba going to touch nature and go to the world to learn, they will have some feelings.
After that, Simba had two travel dreams, one was to go to Coco Siri with his master Xi Zhinong next year to photograph the breeding and migration of Tibetan antelope, and the other was to go to Africa to see the great migration of animals. I believe this dream will come true soon.
In fact, others will ask, how can we travel like we do? I think it's a very simple thing. I used to say that my motto was to live in one breath and to be good to me. I now like to put it simply: if you have a dream, chase it, and don't stop if you don't die.
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Lao Ji said that he wanted everyone to see the possibility of another life
I can't say it's replicable, it's just the option that suits us. But I hope that more families will find more possibilities for life and education from this true story.
If you agree to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, then going to any place in the country can make the mountains and rivers become the teachers of children.........
If you have love and companionship for your child in your heart, then next to your home, it is all poetry and far away.