On Top of the World

　　AMONG the representatives from various quarters on the parade float celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at Tian'anmen Square, was a tall, handsome and energetic figure in Tibetan national dress. Guisang, one of the ten outstanding Chinese women, is a notable mountaineer from Xigaze City, Tibet. The honour of seeing top state leaders waving and greeting them with her own eyes made Guisang beside herself with excitement. Tears gathered in her eyes.
　　Born into a family engaging in farming and animal husbandry in 1957, she was adopted by her aunt in a county north of Tibet at the age of nine. At 16, she was accepted into the medical team of the People's Liberation Army as a nurse and, at 18, became a member of the Chinese Mountaineering Party when mountain climbers were needed.
　　Mountaineering, getting off to a late start in China, is by no means an easy job, especially for women. To keep up with their counterparts in many other countries, Chinese mountaineers must make painstaking efforts. Guisang's natural adaptability to high altitudes, strong build and healthy mentality have made her suitable for such a demanding job. To temper her willpower, every morning Guisang gets up very early to go running. She finds it dull but better than loaded walking with her male colleagues. Sometimes, Guisang has to overcome her physiological reaction and repeatedly practises her climbing skills with a weight of dozens of kilograms.
　　Of all sports, mountain climbing is the only dangerous one without applause or encouragement from an audience. Guisang feels deeply the toughness from the thin oxygen, constantly changing climate and sudden blasts of wind on the snow-capped mountains. One time while halfway to the peak, she and her teammates were snowed-in for two whole days by a severe blizzard. Guisang fainted suddenly due to serious anoxia. When she came to her senses, she immediately took off the mask so as to conserve the oxygen for other urgent needs. On one expedition, she lost eight kilograms in just a few days. "In a stiff climb, you do not know when a big snowstorm is coming and what will happen to you," said Guisang. Terror sometimes wells up in her heart, especially when the remains of dead mountaineers come into sight. But finally when she stood on the peak overlooking the world, she was filled with joy and proud of her success.
　　Guisang's efforts finally paid off.
　　In 1974, for the first time she climbed a height of 7,070 meters.
　　In 1977, as a state mountaineer, she conquered the 7,453-meter-high 　　Mt.Tomor on the border of China and the former Soviet Union.
　　In 1986, she was granted the title of master sportswoman after a successful climb of 7,543-meter Mt. Zhangzi. A climb co-organized with Japan.
In 1990, a Inountaineenng team of peace was jointly organized by China, the former Soviet Union and the United States to assault Mt. Qomulangma 8,848 meters above sea level. Guisang became the second woman after Pehentog to stand on the world's summit. She was honoured with the title of international master sportswoman and was awarded a medal accordingly.
　　In 1994, along with two of her teammates, Gu isang joined the international Women's Xixiabangma Mountain Climbing team on behalf of China. It was the largest scale multi-national mountaineering expedition ever assembled. On conclusion Guisang became the first woman to have climbed two mountains over 8,000 meters high.
　　On May, 27, 1999, Guisang and her ten other teammates climbed up Qomolangma again to collect the holy fire for the Sixth Ethnic Gaines. Ilence, she has become the only woman to have scaled the world's peak twice.
Guisang's 73-year-old aunt loves her very much and has always given her support-even when she joined the army or climbs a mountain. Guisang's husband is not a climber, but has engaged in mountaineering work and knows well the joys and sorrows in it. To ensure his wife could take part in climbing wholeheartedly, he plays the role of willing househusband after work. Proud of their mother's career, their two sons call her "heroine mum
Now Guisang, over 40, is seeking another height to scale.