A six-year-old Guinness record holder has travelled across China's rugged Lop Nur desert with 13 other persons, adding another feather to his cap.
He Yide, recognised by Guinness World Records last year as the youngest person in the world to pilot a plane, finished the 3,000-kilometre expedition early this month.
Nicknamed Duoduo, He Yide, is also known as the "Running Naked Boy" since February 2012, when a video clip uploaded by his father showed the boy crying while running almost naked in New York in subzero temperature.
His father, He Liesheng, a successful businessman in Nanjing, said a lot of preparation was made before the desert trek in Xinjiang province that was done on foot and by vehicle.
"We didn't risk our children's lives," He said.
Defending the arduous excursion, he told state-run China Daily: "But we think that not having adventures in life is the most dangerous thing."
Together with three other families, who were chosen by He from hundreds of applicants, they entered the desert, known to the Chinese as "the Sea of the Dead", to start the 20-day journey in mid-October.
In preparation for the journey, during which the four children were asked to walk at least 100 kilometres, the team hired five guides to ensure their safety.
Duoduo's father also took a large amount of instant food, sand-proof glasses and nearly 100 kind of medicines.
The businessman said that during the journey, the children learnt a lot that could not be acquired at school, including how to tell directions, scare away wild animals at night and find water in the desert.
"I learnt that wolves are afraid of light, fire and the smell of gunpowder. We successfully scared away three wolves by using our flashlights.
"We also visited the monument of Peng Jiamu and left bottled water for people in need," Duoduo said.
In the 1980s, Peng Jiamu, a Chinese biochemist and explorer, disappeared in the Lop Nur.
To encourage Duoduo to continue with the adventure, each time he finished walking 5 kilometres, his father let the boy lie down and massaged his body.
He denied that traversing Lop Nur was a publicity stunt, saying that the only aim of the adventure was to train the children to become more courageous.
45-year-old He's unconventional education methods have stirred public debate since 2012.
In August 2012, Duoduo sailed a yacht solo in Qingdao in Shandong province. Later in September, he scaled Mt Fuji in Japan in 15 hours on a rainy day.
In August 2013, he made a 35-minute flight across Beijing Wildlife Park in an ultralight aircraft, thus becoming the Guinness world recorder holder for the youngest person to pilot a plane.
