Yang Chunfeng, a 45-year-old mountaineer from Urumqi, China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine before he started mountain climbing in 1998. As a widely respected mountain guide, he climbed to the top of the 7,546-meter Mount Muztagata in Xinjiang 10 times, and conquered the world's two highest peaks, Mount Qomolangma (also known as Mount Everest in the West) in 2007 and K2 in 2012. He was the first Xinjiang local to accomplish such feats.

Yang, like many mountaineers, set a goal of climbing the world's 14 mountains higher than 8,000 meters in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. Before heading to Pakistan, he had already conquered 11 peaks. He once said he wanted to establish a mountain climbing school when his goal was accomplished.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/25/2013 page11)