From a Mountain Village in China to the World Stage
In 1927 an 18-year old girl packed a bag of pancakes and walked alone for 7 days. She traveled from the remote mountain village of Daheishan, in the southwest China province of Yunnan, to Kunming, the provincial capital. In Kunming she found work, married and had three sons.
Her youngest son, Jin Fei Bao, has maintained a strong interest in the peoples living in the remote areas of Yunnan. These peoples represent 24 of Chinas 55 ethnic minority cultures. Over the years Jin Fei Bao has visited all of these 24 cultures. He has established schools among the Wa people and has helped build community services and a church for the Christian Miao people.
Jin Fei Bao is a world-class mountain climber. He has climbed Mt. Muztag, Mt. Cho Oyu, Mt. Everest, Mr. Kilimanjaro, Mr. Vinson, Mt. McKinley and Mt. Elbrus. He has crossed the Taklimaken Dessert and skied from the 89th parallels to both the Nortth and South Poles. Before the Beijing Olympics he hopes to complete his 7 + 2 adventure by climbing Mt. Aconcagua in Argintina
In 2004 Jin Fei Bao promoted an exhibition of the oldest known color photographs of China. These photographs were taken by Dr. Clinton Millett, a U.S. Army doctor stationed in Kunming during World War II, and they were returned to Kunming by Dr. Millett’s son, Gregg. Gregg and Fei Bao formed a strong friendship through this exhibition.
With Gregg’s help, Jin Fei Bao carried the exhibition on to the National Museum of China in Beijing and to the Pingyao International Photography Festival. Several hundred thousand people attended these exhibitions. Fei Bao also edited a book, “Colorful Kunming,” and worked with China Television on two documentaries. The book and documentaries told the story of the return of the photographs as well the story of the U.S. participation in the war.
In 2005 Jin Fei Bao was recognized at Beijing University as one of China’s top ten business strategists. In 2006 he traveled to the United States and was a keynote speaker at the US/China Peoples Friendship Association National Convention in Schenectady, New York and he traveled to Denver, Colorado to address the Kunming/Denver Sister Cities Association. In 2006 he was awarded China's "Golden Rhino" award as an outstanding sportsman. After climbing Mt. McKinley in 2007, he returned to the continental United States for a lecture tour. In March 2008 Jin Fei Bao plans to embark on an "Eighty Days Around the World" tour of all cities that have hosted the summer Olympic Games. With a team of photographers and writers he will broadcast back to China images of the rich history and culture of these cities all over the world.
Jin Fei Bao with his brother, Jin Fei Biao, on the summit of Mt. Everest -- May 14, 2006
Working with Schools of the Wa Nationality in Southwest Yunnan
Eight Day Trek Across the Taklimaken Dessert in Xingiang Province
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Over 300,000 people attended the Kunming exhibition of the the WWII color photographs of Dr. Clinton Millett. Pictured on the left Jin Fei Bao greets Dr. Millett's son, Gregg, and great granddaughter, Krystal, and museum visitors react to the photos.
Presenting lecture at Beijing University as one of the recipients of China's top 10 business strategists
New Church in the Miao Village of Gongdong Qin, Yunnan built with funds raised by Jin Fei Bao
The WWII photos were displayed at the National Museum of History in Beijing
The Chinese Ambassador to the US, Zhou Wenzhong and Jin Fei Bao at the US-China Peoples Friendship Assn. National Convention in Schenectady, New York
Visit to the United Nations in New York City
Jin Fei Bao and his wife, Li Jia, in Denver, Colorado
Tony and Maureen Wheeler present Jin Fei Bao with the first edition of the China Lonely Planet Guidebook
Press Conference in Kunming announcing Jin Fei Bao's plan to climb the highest mountain on each continent and trek to the North and South Poles
March 2007 -- Fei Bao (and his brother Fei Biao) receive China's Outdoor Golden Rhino Award in Beijing for combining the "Spirit of Kunming" with their climb of Mt. Everest
January 2007 -- Antarctica, 30 kilometers from the South Pole
June 2008 -- Carrying the Olympic Torch
in Yunnan
July 2010 -- Running Marathons &
Company Sponsor
February 2014 -- Running the Jordan Indurance Race
Chronological Biography of Jin Fei Bao
From Kunming, China (Capital of the Province of Yunnan in Southwest China)
1988 to the Present: Travel into the ethnic minority cultures of Southwest China establishing self-help projects and working with local schools. He has established an especially close relationship between many Kunming citizens and the village of Gongdong Qin (which is home to Christian Miao Peoples).
1992: Established Kunming Cable TV Station.
1993: Piloted a hot air balloon and established the Kunming Air Sport Association, which now has 350 members.
1995: Established China Yunnan Adventure Travel Service with an internet website.
1996: Organized and successfully completed a clean-up of the Mt. Everest Base Camp in Tibet.
2000: Helped with the formation of Chuangku, Kunming's first Art and Culture District. The District includes many galleries, art studios, cafes and shops.
2003: Organized and led an expedition to the summit of Haba Snow Mountain (5,396 meters) in which 130 amateur climbers, entrepreneurs, government leaders and journalists reached the summit and thereby established a world record for the greatest number of people reaching such a height in a single mountaineering event.
May 2004: Secured the first private exhibition permit in Yunnan and organized the 1944 Colorful Kunming Exhibition. This one-month exhibition of the photographs taken by a U.S. Army doctor, Dr. Clinton C. Millett, at the Yunnan Provincial Museum, attracted more than 300,000 visitors.
July 2004: Climbed Mt. Muztag (7,546 meters) in Xinjiang, China.
November 2004: Organized a second successful exhibition in Kunming of the color photographs and published the book 1945 Waits For You. This book documents the return of the photographs and the intense emotional response of Kunming citizens as they looked into their past and identified relatives, homes, familiar streets and even themselves as children. The book also tells the story of the Flying Tigers and the broader picture of Americans and Chinese standing “shoulder to shoulder” during World War II.
August 2005: With an invitation from the National Museum of China in Beijing, organized the Beijing Exhibition of The First Color Photographs of China.
September 2005: Climbed Mt. Cho Oyu (8201 meters) in Tibet. From the summit he could see Mt. Everest and said “Now I know that I can climb Mt. Everest.”
September 2005: Curator of the 1945 Color Photographs Exhibition at the Pingyao International Photography Festival in Pingyao, China
2004-2005: Two documentaries were made by Central China Television (CCTV). These documentaries told the stories of the Color Photograph exhibitions and the history behind them.
October 2005: Trip to the United States. Several presentations given including one at the National Convention of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association and one sponsored by the Kunming-Denver Sister Cities Organization.
January 2006: Received Top 10 Business Strategist award at Beijing University.
February 2006: Crossed the Taklimaken Dessert in Xinjiang, China.
May 14 2006: Reached the summit of Mt. Everest (8844 meters).
June 2006: Donated the money from the Mt. Everest Stamps to the Kunming Bird Protection Association, for the use of feeding the red-beak seagulls who come to Kunming each winter from Siberia.
September 2006: Received award from, and will be included in, the new edition of the China Lonely Planet Guidebook.
October 2006: Climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (5895 meters) in Tanzania, Africa
November 2006: Received Top 100 Pubic Relations award at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
December/January 2006/07: Climbed Mt. Vinson (4897 meters) in Antartica and skied to the South Pole.
March 2007: Received China's Outdoor Golden Rhino Award
March 2007: Climbed to within 100 meters of the summit of Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. Climbed was terminated due to an intense storm and the onset of winter.
April 2007: Skied to the North Pole
June 2007: Climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska and traveled to continental United States for a second lecture tour.
August 2007: Climbed Mt. Elbrus in Russia.
Sepember, 2007: Climbed Mt. Pancak Jaya, Indonesia.
December 2007: Climbed Mt. Aconcagua completing his 7 + 2 adventure
December 2007: Seven Plus Two Exhibition at theYunnan Provincial Museum.
April 2008: Olympic Stamp Exhibition in Kunming (Guiness Book of World Records -- World's Largest Olympic Stamp Collection.
May/June 2008: Twenty-two Day Trip Across Greenland (hiking, skiing and dog-sleds)
June 2008: Carried Olympic Torch in Yunnan
July/August 2008: Olympic Stamp Exhibition by the National Museum of China in Beijing.
September 2008: Climbed Mt. Shishapangma
June 27, 2009: Finished 80-day Trek Across the North Africa & the Sahara
November 2009: Exhibition "Century Old Images of Colorful China"
January 10, 2010: Completed 25-day Trek of the Kunming/Vietnam Railroad
July -- 2010: Marathon Running and Company Sponsor
December 10, 2010 -- China Daily Article
January 2011 -- Seven-Country S.E. Asia Bike Trek
July 2011 -- Zheng He Stamp Exhibition (link to CNTV video)
November 2011 -- Award in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People
October 2011: Published Four Books
July 2012: Maritime Exhibition Honoring Zheng He
2013-2014 Marathons
Antartica_Marathon_2014
FUTURE PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Sail one of the routes of Zheng He to India and Africa. Zheng He was from Kunming and is a major historical figure in China and a great explorer in the history of navigation. Carrying out the orders of Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he undertook a series of expeditions between 1405 and 1433 that involved a fleet of 200 ships with a crew of 28,000 men. These historic voyages are, to this day, the largest maritime expeditions in world history. Contrary to other expeditions, colonization was never the objective. Indeed it can be said that these were voyages of peace and good will.
Be one of the first non-astronaut Chinese to circle the earth in a spacecraft.