Authorities in Taibai County, located in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, have mounted an intensive search-and-rescue mission after five outsiders trespassed into Aoshan Mountain, resulting in four people going missing. As of Tuesday, two of the missing have been confirmed dead, while another is known to have fallen from a cliff.
According to the county’s emergency management office, police received a report at 11:00 am on January 3 that several hikers had lost contact while trying to cross Aoshan Mountain. Further investigation revealed that shortly after 2:00 am on January 2, the group of five—none of them local residents—deliberately bypassed checkpoints and entered the restricted mountainous area from a point roughly 23 kilometers from a nearby township. On the morning of January 3, one member managed to make it down the mountain unaided; the remaining four vanished without trace.
Taibai County swiftly activated its emergency protocol, deploying staff from various departments, four specialized rescue units, and local volunteers. Municipal officials from Baoji City traveled to the site to oversee coordination efforts.
By 11:00 am on January 4, rescuers located one of the missing persons in stable health and brought them to safety.
The operation has faced severe challenges owing to the area’s rugged landscape, swiftly shifting weather, deep snow cover, fierce winds, thick fog, and overnight lows plunging to between –27 °C and –28 °C. The search zone is vast, and because the missing hikers carried no satellite navigation equipment, pinpointing their locations proved extremely difficult.
In a further push early Monday at 4:30 am, additional teams—including the Leiting Rescue Team and civilian volunteers—joined the effort, and a helicopter was brought in to aid the search.
Around 4:00 pm that same day, two of the missing were found lifeless. Authorities are now working to confirm their identities with relatives.
The last unaccounted-for individual is believed to have fallen from a precipice during the trek. Owing to the sheer cliffs and treacherous topography, ground access is impossible, and a helicopter-based recovery mission is underway.
The Ao‑Tai hiking corridor, which links Aoshan Mountain with Taibai Mountain, runs through the heart of a nationally protected nature reserve where unauthorized entry is strictly forbidden. Since April 2024, the Taibai Mountain Nature Reserve has expressly prohibited illegal crossings and high-altitude adventure activities above the 2,000‑meter mark. Breaches are subject to legal penalties.
Officials reiterated that venturing illegally into such terrain entails grave danger and appealed to the public to observe rules, respect the natural environment, and cherish human life.
