Eats 50 rats: Chinese woman transforms after losing 14kg in 35-day survival contest
25-year-old hunts, skins, roasts ‘quite tasty’ vermin, suffers sunburn, is covered in insect bites; says she wants more wilderness challenges
A Chinese woman who won a bronze medal and a cash prize for lasting 35 days in a wilderness survival contest says the biggest benefit of the event was that she lost 14kg in weight.
The 25-year-old nicknamed Zhao Tiezhu has 38,000 followers on social media and recently announced her achievement.
Zhao took part in the contest which kicked off on an island in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on October 1. She lasted in the wild until November 5.
She came third and won 7,500 yuan (US$1,000) in prize money: 6,000 yuan (US$840) for surviving 30 days and 300 yuan (US$40) for each day on top of that.
Zhao endured 40-degree heat, her hands suffered from the rough conditions and her feet were covered in scars from insect bites. She was also severely sunburned.
But she said the hardship was worthwhile because her weight dropped from 85kg to 71kg.
The 25-year-old said the weight loss was thanks to the high protein food, such as crabs, sea urchins and abalones that she ate while in the wild.