Mr. Qin said he couldn’t just die in silence.
On the evening of May 27, 39-year-old tourist Qin from Guangxi was walking along the beach in Haikou when he accidentally fell into the sea. He had never swum in the ocean before and had no life-saving equipment, yet he drifted all the way from Haikou to Chengmai.
For seven full days and six nights, his body was scorched by the blazing sun until it was oozing pus. He survived purely on willpower and raw survival instinct until two fishermen from Qiaotou Town in Chengmai rescued him.
In the hospital, Mr. Qin recounted his incredible ordeal:
That night, strong winds and huge waves pushed him farther out. No one heard his cries for help, and his phone was washed away. Once in the deep sea, he removed his shoes, pants, watch, ring — everything — to lighten his body.
On the second day, a floating buoy drifted by. He climbed onto it and rested for the night.
On the third day, he realized he was in the Qiongzhou Strait. He could see ferries passing but wasn’t spotted. He tried to swim back to shore when the waves calmed, but another big wave swept him even farther out.
Days four and five were the hardest. Starving and exhausted, he survived by eating 70–80 tiny crabs raw. He began hallucinating.
When the fishermen rescued him, he was so out of it that he thought a friend was taking him out for a meal. He reached out and grabbed what he thought was a hand — it was actually the wooden stick they handed him. Only after getting on the boat did he fully wake up and feel overwhelming joy.
A real miracle of survival. Respect.