People who come to deliver the bear will stop in front of that picture. The photo was taken at sea, with Big Bear holding up the freshly caught fish with a big smile. He had a wolf printed on the chest of his shirt, howling toward the moon.
As a tour guide, he was leading a tour of Hawaii at the time. In his spare time, he went fishing with people on a boat, spending more than $100. He was big, and he saw a discount on plus-size tops at local clothing stores for $10 a piece, and he bought 29 in one go, all printed with animal motifs — friends say he loves animals the most and loves to be close to nature.
On July 5, Gong He's farewell meeting was signed. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Today, at the Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing, he is lying quietly in a coffin.
On July 2, when Da Xiong led a group to explain in the Summer Palace, he died due to fever and stroke induced by high temperature, and was sent to the hospital for ineffective rescue. This tour guide, who wanted to "take in the beautiful scenery of the world and taste the flavors of all places", finally survived the cold winter of tourism, but left abruptly in this "full of hope" summer.
The farewell party on July 5 was attended by more than 300 people. In addition to relatives, friends, colleagues, and colleagues who came from Tiannanhaibei. A tour guide who did not know Big Bear thought he had to come after seeing the message in the WeChat group. She cried so hard that she couldn't stand upright, "I saw my own shadow from Brother Xiong." ”
Heat
"Big Bear" is the nickname given to himself by Gong He, who is more than 180 centimeters tall and weighs more than 200 pounds. His face was covered with flesh, and his eyes narrowed into a slit when he laughed.
On July 1, he picked up a study group of 30 students and began a five-day trip to Beijing.
At about 10 a.m. on July 2, he and his teaching assistant took 30 students into the Summer Palace for a tour.
It wasn't the hottest time of the day, but many visitors were already holding up their sun umbrellas and putting up ice stickers. On the shore of Kunming Lake, the queue of boats lined up for nearly 100 meters. The pine branches on both sides of the pavement were yellowed and soft, hanging low.
Temperatures continue to rise. By noon, the seats on both sides of the Summer Palace Promenade were almost full of cool tourists. A number of Gong He's friends told reporters that Gong He, who was explaining for a long time, looked miserable due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures, and it was difficult to continue speaking.
Jia Zhihua, the tourist bus driver, told reporters that Gong He insisted on explaining and took the students back to the bus. Immediately sat down in the seat behind him, and according to the original plan, they would go to the Beijing Planetarium after lunch, but Gong He could not stand up again.
According to monitoring data released by the Beijing Meteorological Observatory, at about 12 noon that day, the temperature in most areas of Beijing was 35 to 36 degrees Celsius.
It was a tough summer. According to the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, since June (as of 20 o'clock on July 5), the number of high temperature days of 35 degrees Celsius and above at the observatory has been 18 days, which is the largest in the same period in history since the station was established in 1951.
Along with the soaring temperature, there is also the popularity of Beijing tourism. On a well-known travel platform, the number of advance bookings of summer hotels in Beijing increased by 6 times compared with the same period in 2019; As of July 3, the number of advance bookings for summer scenic spots in Beijing increased by 2.6 times from the previous month and 4.5 times over the same period in 2019.
The tour guides haven't been so busy in a long time. After the adjustment of epidemic control and control, the number of tourists in Beijing has soared, but the number of people admitted to attractions is still the same, and it is difficult to find a ticket for popular attractions. Guided tours lead groups during the day, grab tickets with travel agencies at night, and sometimes even rotate around.
Despite the hard work, it is good that there is money to be earned. A number of tour guides told reporters that there is now a big shortage of tour guides in Beijing, and travel agencies are begging tour guides to come, and their income is twice as much as usual.
Information on Gong He's tour guide card. Website screenshots
"I don't want to say another word other than explaining." A guide who explains at an outdoor attraction said. Even the pleasantries of encountering peers in the past have now become tacit silence. In the high temperature of outdoor "steaming and boiling", the tour guide must maximize the preservation of physical strength.
Even peers who were once known for their loud voices and full of emotions have recently been "wizened" outdoors, "shrugging their heads and not talking." "Many tour guides bring a few bottles of Huo Xiang Zhengqi Water with them and drink one bottle before getting off the bus to explain.
When I met a colleague with a bad face, I would also hand over a bottle, "Don't say anything." Drink it, drink it. ”
Died
The driver, Jia Zhihua, was the first to notice that Gong He was unwell and asked him if he wanted to take medicine. "Just take it slowly." Gong He said. Jia Zhihua started the bus and drove to the place where he ate.
About half an hour later, at the entrance of the canteen of Beijing Hanlin Vocational Training College, the bus slowly stopped. The teaching assistant takes the children out of the car and eats in the cafeteria.
When Jia Zhihua was about to get out of the car, he found that Gong He's breathing was rapid and heavy, and he stepped forward to ask. "Take a break, take a break." Gong He muttered, looking like he was about to pass out. Jia Zhihua quickly called the teaching assistant to help, and the assistant teacher dialed 120. Subsequently, Gong He was sent to the Aerospace Center Hospital for treatment.
After 4 p.m., Gong He's father rushed to the hospital. The rescue lasted for nearly 2 hours, and after trying epinephrine injection, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other means, Gong He did not improve. The doctor told his father that (Gong He) had no heart rate ventricular fibrillation and the body temperature was 42°C.
"Cool down, take ice cubes to cool down." Father said.
The doctor replied, it has already been done.
"Do you have any other way?"
Everything that could be done was done, the doctor said.
My father saw that in the emergency room, the doctor was still doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation for Gong He. With each compression, the body moves slightly, stops pressing, and the body does not move.
An hour later, Gong He died after ineffective rescue. Zhang Rui, who has worked with Gong He for 7 years, was at the scene, she helped to open a death certificate, and saw that the cause of Gong He's death was "heat stroke".
In fact, a month ago, Gong He's body had a condition. At that time, when I led a group tour of the Forbidden City, "I had a bit of a symptom of heat stroke, and I pulled and vomited when I came home at night." Gong He's colleague and Xiao Wuwei recalled.
Gong He revealed to him that he knew that his health was not as good as before, and he was no longer the young man who would not be high when he went to Tibet. At 49 years old this year, he is considered an advanced age in the industry. This is his twentieth year as a tour guide, and he plans to change careers.
Before the pandemic, he began to plan his future life. The tour guide eats the rice of youth, and he wants to earn more money to invest in buying a house and save more pension money for himself. According to the plan, earn a few more years, and he can stop working.
Gong He's photo during his group trip to Amazon. Photo courtesy of interviewee
The epidemic disrupted Gong He's plans. All of his outbound tours were stopped, losing his main source of income, and he had to look to other low-threshold industries. He partnered with a friend to open a candy store, invested more than 100,000 yuan, the candy store had to buy goods, pay rent, hire people, the money only went in and out, he had to consume savings to keep the business running.
During that time, the next-door neighbor saw him eating only instant noodles and drinking iced tea all day. My cousin videotaped him and felt that he was at least a lot fatter than when they met in 2018. While collecting the relics, his cousin saw that the nutritional products she had sent him did not move.
Finally through the epidemic, the tourism industry picked up, and there were endless orders at the "doorstep", and Gong He planned to make some quick money to recover losses. This single 5-day study group, he can earn about 4,000 yuan.
No one expected that on July 2, the second day of the study group's trip, Gong He would leave quietly. On July 5, many relatives and friends who have not yet reacted will say their final goodbye to Gong He.
The photos at the farewell ceremony were picked by Wu Wei, and the photos showed Gong He's favorite nature and animals. Gong He loves animals and has loved to go to zoos since he was a child. When I grew up, I raised animals, dogs, turtles, tropical fish, chinchillas, and so on. Interested in military affairs, he named his corgi Luger (a pistol).
After Gong He's death, Luger lost his master and was adopted by a friend.
Full escort leader
Before the epidemic, Gong He was a Nordic special line escort leader with a good reputation. This title was earned by him with more than ten years of industry accumulation.
At first, he was only capable of picking up local guides. After a few years, he began to lead regiments from Southeast Asia. After a few more years, with professional service and solid reputation, he finally had the opportunity to learn from the leader of the European outbound tour.
There are two types of outbound tour escorts: one is only responsible for bringing tourists to the destination and ensuring the safety of tourists, which is known in the industry as "pure tour escorts". Upon arrival, a local guide will be picked up to explain the sights, arrange accommodation and meals, and more.
This method is similar to domestic tourism: the tour operator sends a tour leader to ensure the safety of tourists, and the ground operator sends a local companion to explain the attractions, accommodation and catering.
Another kind of outbound tour leader is responsible for the tourists' food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment, which is called "full escort leader" in the industry.
In the tour guide industry, the treatment of a full escort is very considerable, so the threshold is high. Foreign language is only the foundation, and the ability to scientifically arrange the itinerary and deal with emergencies is the hard threshold. Under the premise of ensuring the safety of dozens of people, it is not easy to let everyone have fun.
Doing this highly experience-dependent job often requires on-the-ground learning. Gong He found a master who was willing to take an apprentice, and he paid for it out of his own pocket and followed the master's regiment to step on two lines.
On the way, he followed the master's roadshow throughout the process, observing the master's various reactions and trying to remember every detail. "Recording, taking notes, listening and practicing repeatedly." Wu Wei recalled.
Compared with Central and Western Europe, tour guides need to master less geographical and historical knowledge to explain Northern Europe. Therefore, Gong He chose the Nordic line: Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Photos of Gong He at the sights. Photo courtesy of interviewee
On the eve of the epidemic, outbound tourism was hot. According to the "Annual Report on China's Outbound Tourism Development 2019" released by Yang Jinsong, Director of the International Institute of China Tourism Research Institute, the scale of China's outbound tourism market increased to 149 million in 2018, an increase of 14.7% compared to 2017. Outbound tourists spent more than US$130 billion, a growth rate of more than 13%.
Wu Wei told reporters that word of mouth is the embodiment of the ability of tour guides, and a good reputation means more job opportunities. In 2014, Gong He became a Nordic outbound tour leader. From June to September every year, Gong He will bring 9 to 10 groups, each group of 30 or 40 people, and can earn 40,000 to 50,000 yuan per trip, each trip for about two weeks.
The stable source of tourists and the booming outbound tourism market lasted for nearly five years. It was also in the past few years that Gong He sold the old house in Changying, bought a garden house with a north-south transparency in Tongzhou, and bought a car, all of which were paid in full at once.
In the eyes of his peers, Gong He was righteous and angry, and never hid it. The juniors wanted to learn group skills from him, and he helped. The ground companion had a conflict with the leader, and he was the first to rush to pull the frame. The ground companion threw the group in a fit of anger, and he was able to top it. Similar favors, he helps almost every year.
For the rest of the year, Gong He worked as a pure tour leader, visiting overseas routes that he had never been to. He's been to Kenya to see giraffes, tease sea lions in Antarctica, and fish in the Pacific.
In November 2019, Gong He led a delegation to the Czech Republic, and after visiting a bone church, he wrote in the circle of friends that it was cold and solemn, experiencing the sadness of life and death. That was his last trip abroad, and when he returned home, the epidemic broke out.
epidemic situation
On the last day of 2022, Gong He posted a circle of friends, "2020 to 2022 is undoubtedly an unforgettable three years for many people!" Wu Wei said that in three years, Gong He's income has shrunk several times. Unable to go abroad, he can only work as a tour guide for ground reception, and rarely pick up individual customers.
In 2020, the tourism industry was suspended, and Gong He was unemployed at home. It was not until October that he received the first regiment of the year.
September 2021 was one of the few months during Gong He's epidemic with a stable job. All thanks to the blessing of the soft opening of Universal Beijing Resort.
At that time, the travel agency affiliated with Gong He got the first batch of ticket agents, and he was sent to guide him as a guest. Like a personal butler, he drives to the hotel to pick up guests, arranges tour routes, and helps with luggage and photos in the park. From 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening, the daily salary is 1,000 yuan.
After the soft opening ended, Gong He wanted to continue to be an internal tour guide in the park. However, due to high pricing, fewer and fewer tourists are buying services, and income is unstable. Gong He only waited, occasionally introduced friends to each other, and he sporadically took over museum study and in-depth tours of the Forbidden City.
Gong He's life has also changed. Outdoors and hanging out with friends, he felt suffocated, "like a fly spinning." "Apart from sleeping, he couldn't stay idle for a moment, either fishing or walking his dog.
The work is stopped, but the working capital of the business still has to be maintained, and Gong He has to spend every month. When the savings in his bank account began to flow out, he pondered investing again. See a friend's candy store is good, him
I wanted to invest in leasing a charging treasure, but was stopped by Wu Wei. I wanted to make disposable dishes and chopsticks, ran to the Henan factory to investigate, but in the end, it didn't work. The colleague joined the moxibustion hall quite successfully, and he followed to open the franchisee congress. As soon as his head was hot, he came back and mortgaged the house and prepared for loan financing.
He also participated in the hottest self-media entrepreneurship during the epidemic. He loves to eat and cook, so he shoots short videos of visiting the store. But in the video, he always looks a little tired. His hair was gray, his eyes were squinted and frowned, as if he hadn't woken up. The pattern on the clothes is almost deformed by the bulging belly. The pattern is still an animal, but no longer a beast, replaced by a cat, a dog, a deer.
During the epidemic, Gong He released a video of visiting the store on a short video platform. Short video app screenshots
Some things haven't changed. Netizens advised him to lose weight, but he ate baked cakes, fried liver, and haggis soup, and he loved to eat heavy Beijing breakfast.
He still does things seriously, and netizens say that the video lens is shaky and the reception is poor. He replaced the cheap mobile phone that he had used for many years, bought the most expensive iPhone 14 pro max, and paired it with a gimbal, and the video was getting better and better.
Life was not going well, and he tried to make himself optimistic. While stocking for a confectionery store in October 2022, he strayed into a village with confirmed cases. "I was quarantined at home for seven days, and I have a MMP (dirty word) in my heart to tell", he posted this text in his circle of friends, accompanied by a calligraphy work - "Earn more money, get less angry".
On the last day of 2022, Gong He said in the circle of friends that the future is full of too much hope, everything will get better, come quickly in 2023. At the end of April, Beijing's tourism industry picked up, "this is the first blowout in three years," he lamented, "after all, life is still moving in a good direction." ”
Miss
In the eyes of relatives, Gong He is a "little fat man" who loves to toss and can endure hardships. After graduating from college and entering the society, he first worked in decoration, and then ran to work as a cook because of his hobby. "From apprenticeship to chef in a five-star hotel." Finally, he switched to becoming a tour guide and worked for twenty years.
"I've seen pink snow drifting through Lapland and auroras flashing in Reykjavik's sky. I talked about the dragon spitting water in the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the swan singing to the sky in Hallstatt. I've been on Sri Lankan trains and wriggling with Antarctic penguins. I've taken photos in Daocheng Aden, I've checked in Copenhagen, I've fished in the Pacific Ocean, and I've soaked my feet in the river. A friend's eulogy for Gong He told of his short but rich life.
Gong He attaches the most importance to friendship, this is the consensus of everyone. When he went to the house to collect his belongings, his nightstand drawer was full of classmates, more than thirty years old. When Wu Wei wanted to study abroad, he helped run notaries, banks and study abroad agencies. Eating together, he always rushed to pay. Friends also remember him, and since his death, there are still friends who keep leaving messages under his circle of friends.
Gong He and niece. Photo courtesy of interviewee
In the eyes of friends, Gong He is thick and thin. In life, he is sloppy, "home is like a pig's den." But whenever he encounters something that matters to him, he immediately becomes meticulous, such as inviting friends to his home for dinner, he always calls in one or two friends to help clean up, and then he cooks himself and prepares a table with care.
Bullfrog in stone pot, elbow with sauce, steamed pork ribs in soy sauce, and claypot rice are his specialties. Gong He is extremely picky about food, and the highest evaluation of restaurants is "average". He prepared a stone pot at home, and before the bullfrog was cooked, he first blanched the stone pot on the fire. The bullfrog is cooked, and then poured into the stone pot, making a "sting" sound.
"We've all eaten Brother Xiong's cooking." At the funeral banquet, many colleagues recalled. But in addition to missing Big Bear, the topics that peers talk about the most are still hot days, difficult tickets to grab, and increasingly poor health.
Among the peers who came to see them off, many people have entered middle age, and pension is one of their biggest concerns. They pay their own social security and think every day about how they can earn more pension money. Between meals, many tour guides have been brushing group news, paying attention to whether there are any groups that can be picked up.
Zhang Rui told reporters that domestic travel agencies are generally very small, and they will not raise tour guides and drivers except for planning personnel. The tour guide was invited from outside, and the driver was sent by the car company.
The tour guide is not exclusive to a travel agency, but must be linked to a travel agency. Because the tour guide cannot pick up the tour as an individual, it must be in the name of the travel agency.
The ground tour operator is responsible for formulating the travel route, accommodation and catering, etc., and foreign tour groups will look for the ground tour operator in Beijing to dock. The ground tour operator publishes the information of the local tour guide group.
It was in such a group of tour guides that Gong He took over the research group of the ground reception club, and finally died due to high temperature. If there are no accidents, on July 5th, Gong He can start a new life. Zhang Rui said that before the accident, Gong He had said that this was his last order as a tour guide.
Beijing News reporter Cong Zhixiang, Mu Hongju, intern Wu Yichen, Song Yijing
Edited by Yang Hai Proofread by Liu Jun