WASHINGTON – A stray dog has completed an amazing journey across China with an adopted pack of cyclists.
After one of the cyclists gave him food, the dog ran alongside the group for its 2,735-mile journey across the country, from Sichuan province to Tibet.
The group nicknamed the dog “Xiaosa.” He ran with the group for 24 days straight, covering roughly 96 miles a day and climbing 12 mountains without ever falling behind.
Cyclist Xiao Yong started a blog about Xiaosa’s adventure which now has an online following of 40,000 fans. Yong plans to adopt Xiaosa.
“At first we didn’t consider keeping it and thought he just wanted to follow us for a while. But it showed a very strong willpower and followed us all the way here,” Yong says.
Yong said there were about 300 cyclists on Highway 318. Most of them could not ride to the end and hitchhiked buses halfway. However, Xiaosa and another three cyclists made it the entire way.
WTOP’s Megan Cloherty contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
