(Chinese Version)

Travis Winn, co-founder of the China rivers project Last Descents, an expert boater and an experienced expedition leader

Editor's Note:

On December 8th, Travis Winn, co-founder of the China rivers project Last Descents, an expert boater and an experienced expedition leader, attended the 2016 T-EDGE Conference and delivered a keynote speech titled “Daydream: Rethinking on our Future”, which grabbed the audience’s attention and brought the afternoon session to a new high.

With sixteen years of river expedition experience, Travis had a lot to share with the audience. What stories did he encounter during his expeditions? What opinions had he formed after these years of expedition?

It’s always been Travis’s dream to visit and explore every river in China. This is also why he chose “Dachuan” as his Chinese name (In Chinese, “Dachuan” means rivers and streams). Up till now, he’s already gone on river expeditions on the Upper Yangtze River, including Tongtian River, as well as the Middle Yangtze River, including Jinsha River, Yalong River, Nu River and Lancang River, etc. In 2006, he joined several friends and established China rivers project “Last Descents”, in hopes of taking urban Chinese to go and have a look at the big rivers across China.

He chose “Last Descents” as the project name, believing that their first river expedition on some rivers might become the last. With the rapid technological, industrial and social development in China, many rivers are gradually changing or shrinking. In the speech, Travis also noticed the lingering “smog” surrounding Beijing.

Travis is so pure and innocent as an entrepreneur. He’s not only river adventurer, but also an explorer in the spiritual world. As one of the four spokespersons of TMTPost’s 4th anniversary, Travis represents the spirit of nonstop exploration.

“When you are really surrounded by rivers and nature, you will finally realize how small you are and how swift your life is,” Travis said in a poetic manner in his speech. Travis enjoys such feelings and prefers to observe, think and find next goals through river expeditions. Travis enjoyed his river expeditions so much that he just sat down on the stage when displaying a documentary about his river expeditions.

Since the audience can’t hear clearly what the interviewees in the documentary were saying, Travis broke the silence once and told the audience:

“It’s okay if you can’t hear clearly, but you can just enjoy the feeling.”

Sitting on the edge of the stage and swinging his legs at ease, Travis is like a son of nature. He is the only kind of speakers who would do this when delivering a speech. “I prefer to compare our lives to rivers instead of mountains. If you think it over, you would ask questions such as where did we begin and where are we heading for? When you go on a river expedition and get immersed in such atmosphere, you would be able to flow up and down along with nature. At that moment, you would find your direction and goal,” Travis said slowly.

Travis also revealed that every participant of Last Descents, from kids to adults, would be overcome by the magnificent rivers and nature. Through river expeditions, participants will be able to really feel how they are gradually growing up.

The following is the full transcript of Travis’s speech at the T-EDGE Conference 2016:

[Click here to watch Travis's speech]

I fell in love with river expeditions because of my father, a geologist as well as a river expedition lover. In the 1980s, he was invited by China Academy of Science to study the origin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Himalayas Mountains. So we went on river expeditions on several rivers and had a glimpse of some of the most beautiful places in China. It was then that I fell in love with China’s rivers.

I love their power, their beauty, and the opportunity to feel how small I am. The moment I see China’s thousand-year-old magnificent rivers and mountains, I feel so small not only in size, but also in time and fundamental existence.

So fond of such atmosphere and sky, I decided to spend my life taking more Chinese to explore and better know their mother rivers. In the process, I get to observe not only the change of individuala, but also of the entire social atmosphere.

At the same time, I also witness the pollution and damage of rivers due to social and economic development. I can’t tell if it's right or wrong, so I can just tell the fact. It’s not a comment, but a fact.

This picture shows the areas to be developed in 1990. At that time, there were already over 50,000 dams on Yangtze River. I have always been dreaming of going on river expeditions in these areas. At this point, I’d like to share with you one of my observations: it seems that many Chinese are trying to go upward and focus much of their attention on achieving life goals one after another.

Of course, our society needs such atmosphere or mentality. There’s nothing right or wrong about it. It is such atmosphere and mentality that bring us forward onto the path of innovation and revolution.

However, it also has its toll. Smog is not only nausea for you, but also for every one of us. We are all guilty, but the problem is: due to the above-mentioned atmosphere and mentality, we are already high up in the air and far away from the land.

I think we all need to stop for a moment and think again: What’s our next goal? Where are we heading? Is it time we embrace nature again and live in harmony with it?

I prefer to compare our lives to rivers instead of mountains. If you think it over, you would ask questions such as where did we begin and where are we heading for? When you go on a river expedition and get immersed in such atmosphere, you would be able to communicate with nature and the universe. This is something Chinese philosophers have always maintained, so it’s really not appropriate for a foreigner to teach you again.

No matter it’s a kid, an adult or a team, they can all feel our mother nature, its mighty power and grandeur during river expeditions.

I believe many of you have ever sat beside a river and watch rivers flow back and forth. would be able to flow up and down along with nature. On river expeditions, you are forced to participate in the flow of nature. At that moment, you would be able to find your direction and goal. However, you are constantly reminded that there’s something more potent than you.

I remember there was a kid who was very scared and would often cry when he first joined our expeditions. So I would ask his parent do they want to continue? Later, as the kid really mastered the rules, he told me with pride that he could finally divert the boat along with the river. I believe he will never forget that moment in his life, and that moment will accompany him no matter where he is.

I told a friend of mine yesterday that China was almost forced to go on an industrial revolution driven by foreign pressure. However, this is not something born in China. I wish we could all stop for a while, rethink on our future and find out if it is really something we want, both for our society and individuals.

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[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @Su Jianxun, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Levin Feng (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.