Father, son conquer Qomolangma together

Chen Gang and his son, Chen Lihao, were honored as heroes recently on the campus of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan).

The father and son pair reached the top of Mount Qomolangma (Everest), the world's highest peak on the China-Nepal border, at about 10:30 am on April 30.

Chen is a professor of surveying and mapping at the university. His son, who is in his 20s, is a sophomore majoring in surveying and mapping engineering at China University of Geosciences (Beijing).

During their journey to the top of the world, 8,849 meters above the sea level, they carried out scientific research and collected a large number of samples of ice, snow, plants and rocks.

Huang Xiaomei, Party secretary of the university in Wuhan, and Wang Yanxin, the school's president, congratulated the pair, saying they had presented a gift to China University of Geosciences as it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

Huang and Wang urged teachers and students to learn from the father and son, closely combining their personal futures with national needs and climbing their new peaks in scientific research and daily life.

The climbers interpreted the school motto spirit of "hard work, simplicity, truth-seeking and pragmatism" and the Wuhan spirit of "daring to be the first and pursuing excellence" with practical action, they said.

Cheng Jun, Party secretary of School of Marine Science and Technology at the university, said Chen is fond of mountaineering and loves Mount Qomolangma and has been to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau more than 20 times over a decade.

"As a scientist, Chen nicely combined his hobby with his career. His successful climb of Qomolangma has great significance for the study of the mountain," Cheng said.

The father said he would stick to his original intention to closely combine his passion with his academic specialty, engage in scientific research in the areas where the country needs it, write papers about his motherland and nurture more first-class talent in the months to come.

In 2020, he won the honorary title "Good teacher in Hubei province".

His son, Chen Lihao, is a national first-class mountaineer and a national second-class rock climber. In July 2019, the duo successfully reached the top of Mount Muztagata, a 7,546-meter peak on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.