One Mans Daring Escape from Maos Darkest Prison. In 1. 95. 8, thousands of Chinese citizens were sent to brutal labor camps where life was hell and leaving was impossiblebut that didnt stop one man from trying. Escape From Tibet Movie In English SubtitlesHalf a century later, his long lost story is finally told. In 1. 95. 8, as part of Chinas Anti Rightist Campaign, 5. Chinese citizens were convicted of crimes against the state. One of them was Xu Hongci, a medical student arrested for speaking out against the Soviet Union, who was sentenced to a camp called White Grass Ridge. For eight months, Xu worked up to nineteen hours a day on a starvation ration, each day growing closer to death. Finally, he and his young friend Chen Xiangzai attempted the impossible escape. More than one thousand miles from the nearest land border, in a country as tightly controlled as any prison, it was an impossible journey, and one they had no choice but to make. Xu, who died in 2. Erling Hoh. This month, No Wall Too High was published in English by Sarah Crichton books. The following is an excerpt. On December 1. Xiangzai and I packed our knapsacks and dropped them through the small window behind his bunk, then washed ourselves and ate breakfast as usual. When the team leader blew his whistle for the morning assembly, we exited the barrack first, turned to the rear of it, picked up our knapsacks, and ran as fast as our legs would carry us. It took us two minutes to reach the farms tobacco curing house. We continued sprinting toward the Ouyang Ford at Sand River. We crossed a bridge and came to a village where bent, famished peasants were queuing up for the days work. Keeping our heads down, we walked toward the main road from Hangzhou to Wuhu. Xu Hongci as a young man. Photo courtesy Xu Hongcis familyThis was a dangerous move, because we hadnt gotten far, and it would have been easy for the patrols dispatched by camp commandant Mao Kourong to catch us. But they didnt, perhaps unable to imagine that we would take the easiest, straightest route. According to our plan, we turned east on the main road and arrived at the county seat of Guangde, twenty miles southeast of the camp, by nightfall. There, we bought some food and rested for a while, before continuing our escape through the night by the light of the moon and stars, heading east over the border into Zhejiang Province. Walking another twenty miles, we reached the town of Sian at 5 0. Jiaxing, and then boarded a train to Shanghai, arriving at the North Station in the evening. The escape had given us our strength back, and we felt no fatigue despite not having slept. M/MV5BMTM4OTQ1MDIzM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDUxNjg3Nw@@._V1_SY320_SX480_AL_.jpg' alt='Escape From Tibet Movie 2016' title='Escape From Tibet Movie 2016' />From a general store on Baoshan Road, I made an operator assisted telephone call to Mother and asked her to meet us at the North Station. She arrived there with my sister Hongming and took us to the Old Zhengxing restaurant on Zhejiang Middle Road. What are your plans she asked us. I told her we had no future in China. Our only hope was to escape abroad. Mother and Hongming were worried. They wanted to tell us to give ourselves up but knew we wouldnt listen. On the other hand, if they helped us with money and we were captured, we would be severely punished, and they would be implicated. It was already late, and the restaurant was otherwise empty. We had to speak quietly and make our decisions quickly. What route will you take Mother asked. We plan to go to India via Tibet and then make our way to Hong Kong and find Uncle Lu, I replied. Mother said it was a long journey, that our chances of success were slim, and hesitated whether or not to help us. Finally, she relented before our entreaties and gave me five hundred yuan, which in those days was a lot of money. As we parted, she asked to see us one last time the next evening. Having said goodbye, we were suddenly overcome with fatigue. Because we didnt have any papers, we couldnt stay in a hostel and had no choice but to return to the train station, where we each found a bench to lie down on. Before I had fallen asleep, a public security officer walked over and asked to see our documents. Unable to produce any, we were taken to the police office at the train station. There were many other people there, waiting to be questioned. Professor Layton Art Book. Xiangzai and I were separated, but I could see him. Read reviews, watch trailers and clips, find showtimes, view celebrity photos and more on MSN Movies. Directed by Martin Scorsese. With Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang. From childhood to adulthood, Tibets. After escaping from a World War II labor camp, a band of soldiers undertake a journey to traverse Siberia, the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas. Watch trailers learn more. The police had taken our knapsacks from us but not the money, which I had hidden in my pants. As soon as we were interrogated, the game would be over. The road to Duomei is a stretch of Xu Hongcis final escape route in 1. Photo by Erling HohAt this moment, I was filled with a powerful determination and, taking advantage of a short lapse in the attention of the police, stood up and fled the station out to the road, disappearing among the pedestrians. I crossed Sichuan Road and came to the Bund. By this time, it was around midnight, and there were no police in sight. NV7ZzZpFt7g/hqdefault.jpg' alt='Escape From Tibet Movies' title='Escape From Tibet Movies' />I walked back and forth, feeling bad about leaving Xiangzai behind. There was no way I could return and rescue him. Suddenly I ran into Xiangzai at the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Road. We hugged each other with joy. How did you escapeThe police didnt see you sneak out. I just followed you, he said. But how did you know I was on the BundI dont know. I just had a feeling you would come here. It was a miracle, one of the strangest things in my life. The winter night was damp and cold, and we had nowhere to go. All we could do was saunter about on the Bund. In 1. 95. 8, with Shanghai engulfed in the Great Leap Forward, this famous, elegant boulevard looked like a construction site. In front of the municipal building, there was a row of small blast furnaces, and the sidewalk was cluttered with piles of ore, pig iron, coke, and slag. Of course, we should have left Shanghai right away. But I was young and ignorant in the ways of the Public Security Bureau and wanted to see Mother one last time. That morning, I telephoned Fathers cousin Auntie Bai and asked her to go to my house and tell Mother to meet me at 6 0. Grand Theatre. At around 5 3. Xiangzai and I sat down in the coffeehouse just west of the cinema and ordered some food. I told Xiangzai to stay put and went alone to meet Mother. Because it was dark, I couldnt see that she was shooting warning glances to me and rushed to greet her. A big sturdy man popped out of a corner and grabbed me. Several other men stepped forward. Level Up Conqueror Of All Worlds Game on this page. I realized they were plainclothes policemen and that I had walked straight into a trap. I will never forget the torment on Mothers face. The policemen asked me where Xiangzai was. He wont make it by himself. Return to the camp together Mother shouted. I was about to accuse Mother of betraying us there and then but, tempering myself, realized that the problem probably lay with our arrest the previous evening. Without money, Xiangzai wouldnt survive. Having decided to return to the camp and plan another escape, I brought the policemen with me to the coffeehouse. The games over we have to go back, I said to Xiangzai. When he saw Mother surrounded by the plainclothes policemen, his face turned ashen white. The officers wanted to take us away immediately, but I protested, We are hungry. Let us eat before we go. Mother also insisted on eating first, and the policemen relented. I told the waiter to bring another bowl and pair of chopsticks and asked Mother to sit down with us. The policemen sat down at another table, keeping an eye on us. I quickly slipped the five hundred yuan back to Mother.