In 2020, the nation was shocked by the harrowing news that a female college student had disappeared while trekking through the mysterious and dangerous no-man's land of Hoh Xil and was finally found naked, leaving tragic traces of wild beasts gnawing on her.
This incident is like an unsolved nightmare, hanging over the heart of every lover of nature and adventure. Who is she, and why did she choose to be alone in this forbidden area of life?
On July 5, 2020, Huang Yumeng was extremely depressed due to the huge pressure of her studies, and chose an extreme way to escape the pain she felt.
She walked into the Nanjing Railway Station alone, surrounded by a bustling crowd that contrasted with her inner world. She stepped into the Z164 and found her seat, surrounded by the chatter and laughter of passengers returning home or traveling.
The train started on time, slowly drove out of the station, and began the journey that lasted for dozens of hours. The lights in the train carriages are soft, and through the windows you can see the lights of the city fading away, replaced by darkness.
Huang Yumeng sat in a corner of the hard-seat carriage, with her backpack on the seat next to her, which contained a change of clothes, some dry food and water, and essential outdoor survival gear. Her destination was the city of Golmud in Qinghai Province before heading to the no-man's-land of Hoh Xil.
As the train gradually leaves the confines of Jiangsu Province and passes through Anhui Province into the wider central and western regions, the scenery outside the window gradually shifts from the hustle and bustle of the city to wide fields and rolling mountains.
The train makes several stops during the long journey, with new passengers boarding and others leaving each stop. Huang Yumeng barely spoke to anyone, and her attention was mainly focused on the scenery outside the car window and the few books she had brought with her.
The scenery outside is particularly spectacular as the train crosses the Yellow River, whose waters glow golden in the setting sun, and the mountains on either side of the riverbank, giving this ancient river its vastness and mystery.
Finally, the train arrived in Xining, the gateway city of Qinghai Province, and will soon arrive at the final destination of Golmud City. The city is an important gateway into the uninhabited area of Hoh Xil.
As the train slowly entered Golmud Station, Huang Yumeng packed his backpack and prepared to get off the train. Although Golmud Station is not large, it is an important transportation hub to Hoh Xil, and there are more passengers on the platform and explorers preparing to enter the no-man's land than expected.
Huang Yumeng walked out of the station in Golmud City, and she looked around, this was the starting point of her way to the no-man's land of Hoh Xil.
Outside the station, even though it was morning, there was still a chill in the air at night. Golmud is an important city in Qinghai Province, and the busyness here is in stark contrast to the desolate and uninhabited area that you are about to step into.
Huang Yumeng walked straight along the main road in front of the station, which was lined with scattered shops and restaurants, with the occasional car passing by. She crossed the sidewalk and made a beeline for a taxi rank on the edge of the city.
There, after a brief conversation with a taxi driver, she got into a car heading for the Qingshui River. The road is the gateway to the Hoh Xil area, and along the way, the landscape gradually shifts from the hustle and bustle of the city to the desolation of the periphery.
During the drive, Huang Yumeng quietly observed the changes in the scenery outside the window, from which you could see the distant mountains and sparse vegetation, which are natural barriers to the no-man's land.
The car drove for hours on a bumpy road and finally reached a small village near the Qingshui River. This is the end of the road, and further is the only way to go on foot.
After Huang Yumeng got out of the car, he walked straight forward. The road gradually became rougher, and the surrounding area was becoming more and more sparsely populated and desolate.
The water of the Qingshui River is clear, and there are many low shrubs growing on the rocks along the riverside. At this point, she began to hike in the direction of the river, a route that provided her with directions, although there was no obvious path.
Along the way, Huang Yumeng used the map and compass in her hand to confirm her direction, and she carefully avoided obstacles on the ground, such as scattered rocks and low-lying mud puddles. Moving into more remote areas, she gradually lost her cell phone signal and lost contact with the outside world.
At this time, Huang Yumeng's disappearance had not yet attracted the attention of the outside world. It was her university teacher in Nanjing who began to feel uneasy after not seeing her return as planned and not being able to contact her for more than 24 hours.
The teacher tried to contact Huang Yumeng's mobile phone several times, but all of them were transferred to voicemail. Sensing that something might be wrong, the teacher reported the situation to the administration of her school and subsequently notified the police.
The news of Huang Yumeng's disappearance was quickly passed on to the police and attracted their attention. Considering that she was a young woman who had traveled alone to a remote and dangerous area, the police initiated an urgent search procedure.
They first investigated Huang Yumeng's last correspondence records in an attempt to determine her final location. Since Huang Yumeng did not share her detailed travel plans with anyone, this greatly increased the difficulty of the search.
As Huang Yumeng's disappearance continues to ferment, the police and local search and rescue teams have stepped up their search efforts in the Hoh Xil area. This vast and sparsely populated area is a huge challenge for any search and rescue operation.
The terrain is complex and varied, from sand-covered plains to meadows and rocky highlands, and the weather in the region is variable, with clear skies and sudden storms.
Since Huang Yumeng did not share her specific whereabouts with anyone, the initial search and rescue direction lacked a clear goal, and she could only rely on her last known location to speculate on her possible route of travel. After several weeks of fruitless searching, the mood of the search and rescue team members gradually changed from initial nervousness and excitement to depression and exhaustion.
On the evening of July 30, dark clouds began to gather in the sky, and a storm seemed imminent. Under these weather conditions, the search and rescue team still insisted on searching in the uninhabited area on the south side of the Qingshui River in Hoh Xili. The terrain is relatively open, but the ground is overgrown with weeds and the view is obstructed.
At about 7 p.m., a team of search and rescue personnel found some signs of anomality in a relatively secluded area near the Sonam Dajie protection station.
There were some unusual messy marks on the floor, and it looked like there were signs of heavy objects being dragged. Immediately afterward, they found a pile of human skeletons among several large scattered stones.
There was no flesh left of the skeleton, and it was clear that it had been cleaned up by the beast. There are a number of personal belongings scattered on the ground, including a bottle of mineral water that has been drunk for the most part, as well as some outdoor equipment such as backpacks and water bottles.
What's even more remarkable is that there is also a mobile phone, an ID card and a student ID card next to it, which have been checked and confirmed to belong to Huang Yumeng.
The search and rescue team immediately cordoned off the scene and called in more professionals to conduct a detailed on-site investigation. Given the complexity and sensitivity of the scene, police paid special attention to protecting the integrity of the scene for further forensic analysis.
The remains and items found at the scene were carefully collected and transported to the nearest forensic center. There, experts conducted exhaustive DNA testing and comparative analysis of the bones, and finally confirmed that the remains were Huang Yumeng's.
Although this discovery ended the search and rescue operation, it opened a new chapter of grief and a heavy blow to Huang Yumeng's relatives and friends.
Shortly after Huang Yumeng's remains were found, Xie Wenlin, chairman of the Blue Sky Rescue Team, elaborated on the findings and preliminary analysis of the search and rescue process in a media interview.
He was standing on the outside of the protection station, behind which was the area of the widely reported search and rescue activities, surrounded by journalists and with tape recorders and cameras pointed at him.
Xie Wenlin first gave a brief introduction to the search and rescue team, praising their professionalism and perseverance in conducting search and rescue under difficult conditions.
He then turned to the specifics of where Huang Yumeng's remains were found. He explained that when the search and rescue team found Huang Yumeng's skeleton, there were no obvious traces of blood or violence in the clothes and personal belongings scattered next to it, which made the preliminary investigation tend to rule out the possibility of external injuries.
Xie Wenlin then mentioned the analysis of the possible cause of Huang Yumeng's death.
He noted that the relics found included items that might indicate self-abandonment, such as drugs that she had not fully consumed, suggesting that she may have been on hypnotic drugs or similar medications, which could have caused her to lose consciousness under extreme environmental conditions.
Xie Wenlin further explained the impact of the natural environment of the uninhabited area of Hoh Xil on Huang Yumeng.
He pointed out that the region's high altitude, plummeting nighttime temperatures, and severe hypoxia are natural conditions that can be a great challenge for anyone.
Especially under the influence of drugs, Huang Yumeng's ability to survive may be seriously affected, causing her to be unable to cope with the harsh weather and environment.
Xie then elaborated on some of the details of the search and rescue process, including how to use a combination of modern technology and traditional search techniques to locate Huang Yumeng's final location.
He mentioned the use of drones to conduct aerial searches in vast and hard-to-cover areas, as well as how ground search and rescue teams conduct systematic searches in difficult terrain.
Finally, Xie Wenlin emphasized the safety measures that must be taken when active in the wild, especially in extreme environments like Hoh Xil.
He reminds all outdoor adventurers and travelers to be well prepared, understand and assess the risks of the area they plan to enter, and share their itinerary plans with at least one person.
The climatic conditions of Hoh Xil are often misunderstood. Although daytime temperatures range from 15 to 25 degrees, making the region seem mild, nighttime temperatures often drop into the teens, especially at high altitudes, when nighttime temperatures are surprisingly low.
In such an environment, anyone who is not properly equipped and prepared for a night out is highly vulnerable to the threat of low temperatures.
When Huang Yumeng's body was found, her clothes were gone, leaving only her bare bones. This situation raises questions about his pre-hypothermic behavior.
In extremely cold environments, the human body may experience "undressing behavior" in the event of severe hypothermia, an illusion caused by hypothermia that causes the patient to feel unusually warm in the body, causing him to undress, a physiological paradoxical response.
The truth is unknown, but it is a pity that such a young life as Huang Yumeng disappeared in the vast no-man's land.