Ｍｏｔｏｒｃｙｃｌｅ Ｈｅｒｏ Ｓｕｒｍｏｕｎｔｅｄ Ｍｏｕｎｔ Ｔａｉ

Liu Jichun is China’s only motorist who has powered his way into the Guinness Book of World Records. Among of the amazing and stunning feats he has accomplished， he rode a domestic motorcycle to the top of Mount Tai. The stunt that established his Guinness fame was the longest distance he covered while hands-off riding a motorcycle by standing on the motorcycle seat.

Liu was a daring boy in his childhood years. In middle school， he quickly became an all-round sports star. In September， 1992， he went to a sports academy to major in weight-lifting. Today， nobody knows for sure how much Liu learned about his major at the school， but his weight-lifting coach did help him learn how to ride a motorcycle and taught him basics of motorcycle stunts.

After he became a sports teacher in a middle school at his hometown in the Yimeng Mountains upon graduation in July， 1995， Liu continued to hone his motorcycle skills. Many people frowned upon his passion for stunning feats. Some just dismissed his unorthodox passion and thought he was crazy; some advised him to commit properly to his teaching job; some suspected that the daredevil young man had lost his head in the mania for fame; some reduced his riding zeal to a hero complex. His own folks vehemently opposed his pursuit， advising the strayed young rider to come back to a normal path of life. But Liu refused to give up.

On March 23， 1999， he set out on a motorcycle journey across the country. The arduous ride gave him more than he had bargained for. For more than 10 days， he rode through cold rain in south China. Then he tasted a touch of death in desert in northwest China where he ran into a desert storm. He went through freezing temperatures in the western highland. He was robbed when entering Tibet.He survived a face-off with some local hooligans in Tibet. He defended himself against a ferocious hungry eagle in Xinjiang and nearly lost the battle. On this tour， he covered 40，000 kilometers across the country in 97 days and reached Beijing after visiting all the provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities on the mainland.

The heroic expedition caused a sensation in his hometown in the Yimeng Mountains. Prejudices and disapproval against him dwindled drastically. He became a hero among hot-blooded local young men and girls were eager to meet him. He married a beautiful woman. On the strength of his success， Liu met with many local motorists and set up a motor dragon-dancing group. Pretty soon， the team got tired of simple dragon dancing tricks and turned their attention to more exciting motorcycle stunts.

One day， Liu saw on television some people compete in walking to the top of Mount Tai. He was inspired.He thought he could climb the Mount on a motorcycle.

With careful studies and discussions with experts， Liu decided upon a route to the top of Mount Tai. He began to prepare himself for the steep ride. A daily training session would include repeated rides on a made-in-Japan professional motorcycle to the top of a long and steep flight of stone steps. During the training， he frequently fell off the machine. In one failure， the motorcycle crashed on him and hurt his ribs seriously. He persisted.

One day， his training attracted the attention of a Japanese tourist. Through an interpreter， the Japanese said he admired Liu’s heroic ambition. Then the Japanese appraised Liu for his good judgment in choosing a Suzuki for such an undertaking， for， according to the Japanese， the Chinese technology and workmanship were 50 years behind Japan. Without waiting the interpreter to finish， Liu declared there and then that he would change to a Chinese motorcycle the next day and that he believed a Chinese motorcycle would be good enough to accomplish the feat.

April 19， 2001 was the day Liu Jichun did his dream climb. The departure point was surrounded by crowds of excited journalists and onlookers. At eight forty-five in the morning， he started the engine and the ZS 125-2 motorcycle roared into life. He began to negotiate the difficult steps upward daringly. The ride went smoothly on the steep steps until he made a tiny mistake at one spot. Before he knew what was happening， he found himself flying off the motorcycle. He grabbed a tree branch just in time before he fell off the mountain. Watching him through a telescope， his wife screamed and the telescope dropped. When she finally picked up the telescope and summoned enough courage to watch again， her husband was already powering away toward the top. It took him two hours and fifteen minutes to ride more than 6，000 steps to reach the Jade King Peak at 1，545 meters above sea level. At the top， he was saluted with a fanfare of standing ovation， flowers and colorful banners.

After the miraculous climb， Liu Jichun yearned to do something greater and more ambitious. When he learned that the Guinness Book of World Records did not have a Chinese record concerning motorcycle events， he decided to create one. His application and action plan were soon approved.

On December 13， 2002， a day millions of Chinese motorcycle enthusiasts would always remember， the Tongzhou Stadium in the suburb of Beijing was a sea of people. A representative from the Guinness headquarters in London came to witness the attempt. Local notary people were also present. Journalists across the country flocked in. Liu Jichun appeared on the track at eight. At nine， Liu started his motorcycle. Some journalists described the ride as if the motorcycle were an arrow flying away at lightning speed. After a smooth ride for a while， Liu gunned the engine and the motorcycle accelerated. Then he took his hands off the handlebars and jumped nimbly on the seat and stood. Riding the motorcycle this way， he waved to the audiences and even did some disco jigs. The record he created that day was 5，480 meters in 10 minutes and 15 seconds， the world’s longest continuous motorcycle ride while standing on the seat and not touching the handlebars. The record appeared in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records.

An issuing ceremony was held on December， 2003 in Beijing to honor the Guinness world records created by Chinese. Liu’s hands-off longest continuous motorcycle ride was officially recognized. Tears came to Liu’s eyes when he accepted a certificate from Mr. Alistair Richards， Chief Executive Officer of Guinness World Records.