Fossil Hunter Cui Qingwu: Where Adventure Meets Science

Meet Cui Qingwu – part-time ice climber, full-time thrill-seeker, and accidental scientific pioneer. This modern-day Indiana Jones swaps bullwhips for crampons, scaling frozen waterfalls in China's remotest corners by weekend and hunting million-year-old fossils with the Chinese Academy of Sciences during the week.

‘My climbing gear doubles as excavation tools,’ Cui jokes, recalling how his extreme sports background prepared him for grueling fossil expeditions in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. His team’s recent discoveries of Triassic-era marine specimens could reshape our understanding of prehistoric climate patterns.

What drives someone to dangle from ice sheets for fun? ‘Passion compounds like interest,’ says the explorer-philosopher, whose social media feeds blend geology tutorials with dizzying first-person climbing videos. ‘Every frozen waterfall teaches patience. Every fossil crack reveals Earth’s story.’

Young researchers worldwide are taking note. Dr. Lin Wei, Cui’s colleague at the Academy, observes: ‘His field techniques borrowed from adventure sports help us access sites we couldn’t reach before – it’s revolutionizing paleontology.’

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Be zealous for our life: The Fossil 'Hunter'

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