Journey through the west

As dusk settles over the black Gobi Desert in Guazhou county, Gansu province, rows of towering wind turbines stretch across the horizon.

Nearby, ancient beacon towers stand silently against the evening sky — relics of the Silk Road once traveled by Tang Dynasty (618-907)Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his westward pilgrimage more than 1,300 years ago.

This spring, that ancient route became the setting for a very different kind of pilgrimage.

On May 4, the 2026 business school Gobi friendship race, also known as "Gobi to West 2026", concluded after four days and three nights across 121 kilometers of desert terrain. More than 1,100 participants from nearly 40 leading business schools worldwide — including China's Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Britain's University of Cambridge and Harvard University in the United States — crossed the finish line at the No 1 beacon tower ruins in Baidunzi.

Yet the event was about far more than endurance.

As business executives, entrepreneurs and MBA students gathered in this remote county in northwestern China, the race became an immersive experiment in sportsmanship, cultural exchange, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) practices and rural revitalization.

"Before leaving Xi'an, many team members still understood the Silk Road only through textbooks," said Xie Xiaoyan, executive team leader of Xi'an Jiaotong University's delegation and chairwoman of the university's international outdoor club.

"They imagined the Gobi as endless emptiness."

That perception quickly changed.

As participants crossed the black desert near Ayuwang (Ashoka) Temple, and passed by historical sites such as the Suoyang City ruins and the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Shuangdunzi remains, history became tangible.

For many participants, accustomed to office towers and boardrooms, the journey became deeply introspective.

"When you are surrounded by endless wilderness and feel there is no end in sight, you can only calm yourself and keep moving forward," Xie said. "You begin to have a dialogue with yourself."

The race route intentionally overlapped with Xuanzang's westward journey.

For many participants navigating uncertainty in business, Xuanzang's perseverance carried modern relevance.

"His belief — 'I would rather die heading west than return east alive' — is very inspiring for modern entrepreneurs," Xie said.

She compared the desert crossing to leading a company through uncertainty.

Under exhaustion and extreme weather conditions, people are easily shaken by external pressure. The Gobi, she said, strips away professional identities and forces participants to rediscover inner resilience.

That sense of transformation was also felt by the trek's international participants.

Twenty-three-year-old Ukrainian MBA student Dima Vasylenko from the CEIBS arrived with limited expectations or preconceptions about western China.

"Do you know tea was exported in two ways? One by boat and one by the Silk Road," Vasylenko said.

"The tea exported by boat from Hong Kong or Guangzhou ports is called 'te', but in all the countries where it was exported via the Silk Road, the name is 'cha'.

"In our country, it is 'chai', which is very similar to 'cha'."

Following Xuanzang's route made the continuity of civilizations feel tangible to him, but Guazhou's modernity surprised him just as much as its history.

On the third day of the race, participants encountered vast fields of wind turbines stretching across the desert.

"Here in China, there are a lot of wind turbines working very well. Even in not so internationally well-known places, it's already very developed. It's the same as Shanghai. The roads and infrastructure are good."

For organizers, showcasing both "historical China" and "modern China" was central to the event's vision.

Zhou Haibin, preparatory chairman of the event's sports committee, said the race attracted overseas alumni and scholars from Cambridge and Harvard.

After the race, Cambridge professor Simon Taylor delivered a "Gobi lecture" beneath the stars, where participants from different countries exchanged ideas on business and life.

"It became more than a race," Zhou said. "It became a cultural gathering."

But bringing more than 1,500 people, including support staff, into the heart of the fragile Gobi also raised questions about how to balance human activity with environmental protection.

Organizers responded with low-carbon operations, zero-waste practices and biodegradable materials at campsites and supply stations, while also supporting local ecological restoration projects.

"Guazhou receives little more than 100 millimeters of annual rainfall, while evaporation exceeds 2,000 millimeters," Zhou said.

"The native vegetation here is extremely fragile."

He said the event aimed not only to minimize ecological impact, but also to raise broader awareness of environmental protection in western China.

Vasylenko was struck by the long-term vision reflected in the desert's development.

"They are not just taking care of the next 100 years, but thinking about 1,000 years into the future," he said.

Beyond its cultural and environmental significance, the race also brought tangible economic benefits. Guazhou's relatively small county seat saw a sharp increase in demand for hotels, restaurants and transportation services during the event.

"After such intense physical exhaustion, many participants were deeply impressed by the local food," Zhou recalled.

"The lamb, melons and Provence tomatoes — made especially sweet by the dramatic temperature differences between day and night — became unforgettable memories."

Many participants chose to extend their stay after the race, traveling onward to nearby landmarks such as the Mogao Caves and Crescent Spring in Dunhuang.

The event also boosted local employment through logistics, campsite construction and rescue support services.

At the opening ceremony, organizers donated computers and multimedia equipment to local schools and launched an education assistance fund.

As exhausted runners crossed the finish line at Baidunzi — covered in dust but still determined — many left with more than medals.

They carried away a renewed understanding of endurance, history and connection.

In Guazhou, along a Silk Road once defined by caravans and pilgrimage, the race is creating a new form of exchange — connecting sports, culture, sustainability and the future of China's western regions.