Tourists stranded in desert rescued

agldacheng

HOHHOT -- All the 55 tourists but one have been rescued after being stranded in the Hobq desert in north China, police said on Friday.

The last batch of 11 tourists left Xinzhen township, Ordos City of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, by train for Beijing at 9 a.m. Friday together with the parents of Ning Qian, the only victim in the hikes in the Hobq desert during the May Day holiday, according to sources with the local police.
The parents came to Inner Mongolia to bring the ashes of their daughter home.

The police in the region received cries for help from 13 students from Tianjin University on Monday and made an effort in 32 hours to bring them out of the center of the desert on Wednesday.

However, another three groups of Beijing tourists, 42 people in total, were stranded in the desert and called the police for help on Wednesday.

Ning Qian, a 27-year-old white-collar from Beijing, died Wednesday before rescuers including doctors found the tourists.

Ning Qian and her group planned to cross the desert on foot within three days starting from Tuesday. Artificial respiration by teammates failed to save her after she fell faint at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday in the center of the desert, said one of the tourists.

Doctors argued that she died from fatigue as the backpack of some 20 kg might be too heavy for her.

Local police have since called on those who want to hike in the Hobq desert to give up their plans for their own sake. The Hobq Desert is a stretch of 16,100 sq kms of shifting sand dunes.

In 1999, China lengthened its three major public holidays, the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day, from three days to seven days each. This has created three so-called \"golden weeks\" for tourism.

Hike in remote areas has become increasingly popular among young Chinese, especially college students and white-collars.