Man Swims 3 Hours Through China Floodwaters On Truck Tyre. The Reason Is Winning Hearts
Man Swims 3 Hours Through China Floodwaters On Truck Tyre. The Reason Is Winning Hearts Published By, Last Updated: July 19, 2026, 09:37 IST The
Man Swims 3 Hours Through China Floodwaters On Truck Tyre. The Reason Is Winning Hearts Published By, Last Updated: July 19, 2026, 09:37 IST The man, identified only by his surname Xie, undertook the extraordinary journey on July 6 after losing contact with his parents in a village near Qinzhou city. Rapid Read Despite being an experienced swimmer, Xie later admitted the journey was physically exhausting and frightening. A 30-year-old man in southern China captured the attention of millions after swimming for three hours through dangerous floodwaters to check on his elderly parents, who had become unreachable amid devastating floods in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The man, identified only by his surname Xie, undertook the extraordinary journey on July 6 after losing contact with his parents in a village near Qinzhou city, one of the areas hardest hit by torrential rains and flooding. The floods, triggered by days of intense rainfall and multiple dam collapses, killed 39 people and affected nearly 400,000 residents across Guangxi.
According to local reports, Xie’s mother had called him the previous evening to say that his father had gone out to secure recently harvested rice as floodwaters rose around their home. Hours later, he still had not returned. With electricity outages disrupting mobile networks and large parts of the village submerged, Xie was unable to reach either of his parents. Fearing that his 63-year-old father may have been swept away by the floods, Xie said he spent the entire night worrying. The next morning, he and a friend decided to make the journey themselves. Xie and his siblings live in the city, around 10 kilometres away from their parents’ village. To navigate the floodwaters, he and his friend purchased two truck tyres from a local shop and used them as flotation aids, South China Morning Post reported. Despite being an experienced swimmer, Xie later admitted the journey was physically exhausting and frightening. For parts of the route, the pair battled strong currents and freezing water.
The final kilometre alone reportedly took nearly an hour to cross. When they finally reached the family home, Xie discovered that rapidly rising water levels had trapped his father on the upper floor of the house. Relieved to find him safe, Xie escorted his father along a narrow path behind the property to a second family home located on higher ground. But before anything else, he reportedly scolded his father for risking his life to save the rice. “He smiled when he saw me," Xie recalled, “but I immediately told him he shouldn’t have risked his life for some rice." News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Key Questions Answered What is the current flood situation in Guangxi? In China's Guangxi region, continuous heavy rainfall has led to severe floods, resulting in 39 deaths and 9 people still missing. The administration has raised the emergency warning level for flood control to Level-3.
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