Chasing thrills, defying limits

"Once you've experienced the exhilaration of free-falling from the sky, every step on solid ground will make you look up, yearning to return," said 30-year-old Li Yuxuan, known as "Xueli" on social media, a passionate skydiver and blogger.

To date, Li has completed 2,516 jumps and garnered over 334,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Many of her popular videos feature daring stunts, such as enjoying snacks or fruit while leaping from a helicopter.

Li's videos have captivated fellow skydiving enthusiasts and piqued the curiosity of netizens eager to learn about the sport.

Indeed, the popularity of extreme sports like skydiving and ultra-trail running is rising among young people in China. On the Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, over 140,000 posts are tagged with "extreme sports".

Li's skydiving journey began in 2016 when she tried her first tandem jump — where the jumper and instructor are strapped together during descent — while studying abroad in Australia. In 2019, she began training for solo jumps, facing many challenges along the way.