Wenwen is back to the limelight this year for the upcoming challenge to Lop Nur, a desert area located in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, after she spent the past ten months with her parents hiking across the country's mountainous border areas.

Wenwen captured Chinese netizens’ attention last June when news of the four-year-old girl walking 15-30 kilometers a day went viral on the Internet. She was called the “youngest backpacker” in China, and her journey started when she was just 18 months old.

But Wenwen and her family haven't stopped. Their walks and steps appeared along the Sichuan-Tibet line, a plateau area where the highest point is 5,000 meters above sea level. The journey was finished half a month faster than they expected, so the parents added one more trip to Nepal after they arrived in Lhasa.

In Nepal, Wenwen climbed the Himalayas and tried paragliding, an impossible mission for a normal four-year-old. They continued their travelling to South Asian countries before they came back home in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province.  

The family met with reporters in Chengdu last week with Wenwen spotted wearing sunglasses, holding a small-sized alpenstock and her signature backpack before they set off on their upcoming journey to Laos in April and Lop Nur in September, where they are going to hike through a large area of virgin forests and a desert area.  

This time, Wenwen’s big brother, Bairu, will go with the family. He was taken out of school by his father, though skipping classes is not new for him.

Pan Tufeng, the father of the two, possessed an unusual educational philosophy far from most of the parents in China, who weigh a lot on children’s performance in school and study. While kids the same age as Wenwen spend most of their time in kindergarten, Pan insists on keeping his daughter out of kindergarten education until she reaches the age for primary school.

In Pan’s opinion, life and nature is the source of knowledge found in books. “They learn it from their eyes and personal experiences, which will surely lead to a different outcome.”

Pan’s biggest expectation for his kids is hoping they could adapt to dreadful environments and adverse circumstances.

A map of China at their home in Shangrao is a manifestation of the family members’ footsteps in the country. They marked each place they have been to with a red flag, while the desert area Lop Nur, located in Xinjiang, was marked with a circle. “We are heading there in September.” Pan said.

Lop Nur was a former salt lake, but is now mostly dried up, and sandstorms and high temperatures have changed the place into a “Sea of Death”. Though it’s a paradise for visitors who love adventure, Pan’s plan for his children was strongly opposed by some of the family’s friends and relatives, as well as starting a heated discussion online.  

Pan, called “Tiger Dad” by netizens, has aroused quite a bit of controversy online.

The family runs an online shop selling honey. Since the story of the youngest backpacker went viral, the family business has been booming, which according to Pan is sufficient for their trips. Pan turned down sponsorship from companies, who vary from outdoors sports equipment to educational agencies in response to the doubts that he was making use of his daughter’s story to be known in public.

The so-called “Grit Education” has been a reigning buzzword in education, which emphasizes passion, resilience, perseverance, and determination, while the tough way the “Tiger Dad” adopted seems to have gone too far.

Although Pan said he wouldn’t risk his kids' lives, netizens expressed their concerns over Pan’s decision to hike in Lop Nur, saying it is a reckless move. “There is no water nor any roads in Lop Nur, the circumstances would be much more severe than on the Sichuan-Tibet line, since there are no people living there. They need professional equipment and guidance to go there.” a netizen called Qishi commented.

Others are anxious about the child’s physical development, saying that lots of walking and an irregular diet would lead to a lack of nutrition, which could bring irreversible damage to a young body. 

‍“It’s a dangerous move to take this bet on a kid’s body.” a netizen commented.   

However, others hailed the educational philosophy of the “Tiger Dad”, valuing life experiences the father brings to his children, saying it would broaden their vision and teach them to learn resistance and perseverance.

“Through this way, they can learn knowledge that is absent from education in kindergarten,” a netizen named Xiaoyu said.  “It is much better than playing with your smartphone or iPad.”  

While understanding that each parent would hold a different educational philosophy for their own kids, a netizen has raised a question on the kid’s own willingness: are these adventurous and non-stop trips a life that Wenwen really wants?