Author: Zixiao Wang
Shadow on the walls sketches the sycamore and magnolia, catches the breeze and the spring vitality, in colors on the never-ending steps. The sound of each step echoes through the silent streets of Shanghai before dawn, at four, at five, at six, until the first window was opened, a hand stretched out the windowsill to water the plants, awakened the grass, awakened the street, and awakened the city.
The floor tile with cracks, every floor tile with the fragrance of magnolia flowers next to each sycamore that the shadow pass; the sycamore with the names of a pair of lovers engraved on the trunk, every sycamore through the light of street lamps in the crevices of tree canopy in the street that the shadow pass; the street with vintage shops on both sides, every street in silence under the starry night in this city that the shadow pass; the city named Shanghai with both elegant architecture and modern sky, every city shinning under the bright moonlight in the land of China that the shadow pass.
The shadow belongs to a runner named Xiong Xianjun. This is Shanghai at 6:30 in the morning, he has already finished running, slowed down the pace, and walked into his home with sweat. In the early morning of this city with the highest per capita disposable income, the largest population and the busiest city in China, known as the "China's financial, cultural and artistic center", the usual hustle and bustle was lost, replaced by only the pervasive shadow of the epidemic and endless lockdowns. Xiong Xianjun's home is not in the center, of the city nor is it the hardest hit area of the epidemic. He considers himself lucky, at least in the current situation where many people are locked in dozens of square meters of homes, he still has the right to go downstairs to immerse himself in the air outdoor. He also voluntarily put running, which is already a habit for him like eating and sleeping, at four in the morning, just to not affect the lives of the surrounding neighbors and the government's epidemic prevention and control. Probably brought about by his gentle personality for a long time, he is always full of gratitude and understanding for everything, people or environment around him, even the thing causes a lot of inconvenience to his life, like the epidemic situation and some unreasonable government seals policy now.
Gentle, this adjective has been with Xiong Xianjun for a long time. He was nicknamed "XIONGXIONG" (means bear in Chinese) by people around him. This nickname that has been accompany with him for fifteen years. Fifteen years ago, he was still a student in university in Shanghai while his gentle qualities had already been there though the habit of running has not yet appeared. Running is hard tired boring that goes against the characteristic of gentleness. But running is lonely, people without gentlness can't enjoy loneliness. In university, Xiong Xianjun had the kind of disposition that liked being alone, or that kind of disposition that didn't take being alone as a pain. He can even talk to no one for an hour or two a day while there are many things that one person can do he is into. Thus, running also naturally joined his list of "things that one can do alone." Their first encounter was in the Shanghai Marathon fifteen years ago. In order to complete the seemingly unreachable length of 42 kilometers, he ran every day, from three kilometers to five kilometers to ten kilometers to twenty-one kilometers to the full distance of the marathon, from then on, out of control.
Xiong Xianjun was sitting in his living room with many books and materials in front of him. A map of Taiwan was clearly visible on the laptop. According to him, he wants to run around Taiwan Island when the epidemic be controlled. All the material is related to Taiwan Island's climate, altitude and other geographical factors. This is the necessary preparation before he implements the running plan. Running is not as simple as most people think. Before embarking on the journey, Xiong Xianjun needs to read a lot of books, plan an appropriate route, and let his body adapt in advance. Running around Taiwan Island was actually on Xiong Xianjun's schedule two years ago, but the sudden epidemic broke all plans, so that it has not been completed until today. Xiong Xianjun said that the preparations for the Taiwan tour were easier than when the China tour five years ago.
China tour, has been completed by car, by bicycle, by ship, by plane, but never by foot. Running around a country has happened in America, in Germany, in Japan, in Italy, but never in China. Xiong Xianjun, first China tour by foor, first running around happened in China. Among substantial runners in China, although he is not the only one who have the idea of using foot to measure the width of this land, he is the only one who actually take the step out and complete the mission. What made it go from an ordinary runner to the first runner of the Tour of China was actually an accident of not being able to buy a ticket home. On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2016, Xiong Xianjun failed to buy a ticket from Shanghai to his hometown in Shaanxi while the loneliness of the New Year alone seemed inevitable. Instead of being alone in Shanghai without warmth and humanistic care during the Spring Festival, he decided to do the thing he have deep affection to, running. This idea led him to formulate a route from Xiamen to Shenzhen. He ran 610 kilometers in seven days. On the way this time, Xiong Xianjun met many strangers, most of them were warm and friendly, someone drove a car to accompany him to run and chat, someone bought water for him, delivered food. The plan of China tour by running appeared firstly now.
Quitting job, looking for sponsors everywhere, sleeping in the rough for a year, the cold in Tibet, the heat in Xinjiang. There seems no hope or even anything positive, the only certainty outside of uncertainty is that it's a tough road. "No matter what people in the world say, I always believe that my feelings are the right ones. No matter what others think, I will never disrupt my rhythm. I can stick to what I like, and I won't last a thing long if I don't like it." This is Xiong Xianjun's belief, also the reason why he keeps running forward recklessly.
Hirokazu Koreeda has a movie called "still walking". The movie tells the story of the protagonist Yokoyama sharing stories, grief, laughter, and finally reshaping his outlook on life and goals in getting along with his family. For Xiong Xianjun, "still running" would be a proper description. For fifteen years, he has been running every moment without a day's interruption. He can even, as Song Dongye sang in the North of Anhe Bridge, "Sell my house and wander the world." All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, his own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing. No matter what anybody else says.
Somerset Maugham wrote: "Any razor has a philosophy of its own." That is to say, no matter how trivial an act, as long as it is persevered day by day, there will always be something resembling an idea that emerges from it. Xiong Xianjun had many conversations with himself during the day and night running around China. In these conversations, they talk about philosophy, about Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, they talk about ideals, about worldly success and individual happiness, they talk about life, about future development and the present state, they talk about human beings, about youth with confusion and middle-aged man with anxiety. During the dialogue, Xiong Xianjun gradually fell in love with philosophy, and gradually found out what he still cares about behind running, and found the meaning of his life. The meaning is to spread love, so that more people can be clear about what they love when they are young. His latest goal is to make 100 speech to lead more souls wandering in the fog find their own beacon.
The shadow is still passing, Xiong Xianjun is still running. He is not only run and not only run for himself now. When you met a men run alone in the street, accompany with the floor tile, magnolia, sycamore and moonlight, please stop him and chat, he might lead you to your lifelong beacon.