Off to the Uncharted | BlueRun Ventures Summer Exploration Report
Through mountain peaks and hidden valleys, through sandstorms and driving rain — we've walked this road together.
Perhaps what makes us human begins with a single curiosity:
What lies in the places I have never been?
And the mission of venture capital is to explore the uncharted.
In July, the BlueRun Ventures expedition team set out once again.
Expedition Report
Destination |
Xinjiang
Duration |
5 days
Itinerary |
Prelude — Main Movement — Finale
Expedition Loot |
Interactive gifts at the end
Click to watch the highlight video
Environment: Wind-eroded terrain, the most extensive rocky gobi region Survival Guide: Minimal precipitation; carry sufficient water Discovery at this site: Seeing what does not change
"The only constant is change" seems like an unassailable truth. In an era of upheaval, even those who have fully adapted to change cannot escape the feeling that life is but a sojourn. Yet on this expedition, in the Great Sea Road of Hami, Xinjiang, we saw what remains unchanged amid change.
Click to watch the highlight video
The Great Sea Road was one of the ancient Silk Road routes. After eons of tectonic shifts, weathering, water erosion, and sand scouring, it formed a yardang landscape where massive rock formations stand eternal. We were awestruck to see the shape of the wind — weightless, yet given time, it could peel away layers of stone.
The jagged, uneven gobi was nearly devoid of human presence, eerily resembling a Mars base. From Earth to the Moon to Mars, every human expedition has been a journey from one desolation to another. We recalled the line that follows "life is but a sojourn" — "why burden yourself with so much worry?" However the world transforms, what remains unchanged is the pure heart that drives us to set forth: undefined, and daring to be first.
Environment: Forests, meadows, glacial margins — still bone-chilling even in midsummer Survival Guide: The team must advance together Discovery at this site: Breakthrough, unity, conviction
Hanqi Valley cuts roughly 14 kilometers eastward into the Karlik Mountains, with ancient trees reaching skyward and mountain springs gushing forth. Three streams converge and flow south along the valley, yet even in the height of summer, the chill persists — hence its name. With the help of the Bear Grylls Survival Academy, we experienced 24 hours of extreme survival in this authentic wilderness environment.
We hoped to achieve self-awareness through self-breakthrough. Here is what we discovered:
Breaking Through
BlueRun Talent Principle #1: Ignite the team to find their own magic and keep growing. Living long in artificially constructed comfort is like Truman trapped within the walls of Seahaven — unable to truly know oneself. But in these 24 hours, we challenged ourselves with rapid marches, hiking over mountain slopes, and rope traversals we had never before attempted.
We discovered that we could solve survival problems autonomously, without urban civilization. No lighter? A magnesium rod and wool could start the most primitive fire. No gas stove? We had to find dry wood of varying thicknesses. No hotel? A tent, ground pad, and down sleeping bag were enough to erect shelter anywhere.
Time and again we thought this was Mission: Impossible, yet every single person completed the entire journey. We found that human potential has extraordinary elasticity — believe, and it becomes possible.
Moving Forward Together
For this expedition, all BlueRun members were divided into four teams; every activity was team-based. In extreme conditions, we understood what a team truly is. A team means not leaving anyone behind — reaching the finish line together is what matters:
A team means each person fully leveraging their strengths, sharing the joy of victory together — where 1+1 > 2:
That night we lit a campfire and gazed up at the star-filled sky. We spotted the Big Dipper and Ursa Major, understood why the Milky Way bears that name, and identified which star shines brightest in the night sky.
As the countdown to midnight began, we sang "Happy Birthday" — it happened to be a teammate's birthday that day. She said: "This might be the most special and unforgettable birthday ever."
As we were about to exit Hanqi Valley, we simulated a wilderness rescue scenario. Two wooden poles and a thick rope fashioned into a stretcher — we had to carry our "injured" teammate to safety. We spontaneously devised tactics and organized sub-teams to handle different terrain, successfully passing this dual test of individual capability and teamwork.
Independent Thinking
To reach our destination, we faced the test of team decision-making: each team had to choose their own route over the mountain slopes without coaches pointing the way.
This inevitably reminded us of the current market environment: in a sea of fog, no one can remain an outsider. We chose the decision-making approach we have consistently applied throughout our investing careers: thorough discussion, democratic decision, shared responsibility.
Along the way there were distractions, and we did take actual detours. But we discovered that as long as we fail fast and think deeply, no exploratory path counts as a wrong turn.
Environment: "Sand does not advance, green does not retreat, the view does not shift, people do not migrate" Survival Guide: Go with the flow, enjoy the sand dashing Discovery at this site: The naan you bake yourself tastes sweeter
The BlueRun expedition team found that Turpan truly lives up to its reputation as "Xinjiang's living room." It concentrates the region's most representative geography, landforms, living environments, and lifestyles — not only oases, deserts, and rivers, but also abundant melons, fruits, grapes, and grasslands, with countless splendors to discover.
We sampled Xinjiang's distinctive cuisine, admired the Uyghur people's gift for song and dance, and even learned to bake naan. Though the oven handles scorched our hands, we all agreed: "Yep, the naan you bake yourself really is sweeter."
With our pockets full of sweet melons and fruits, we arrived at the Kumutage Desert, roughly 90 kilometers from Turpan. Click to watch the highlight video
This is the world's only desert with zero distance from a city — desert and oasis separated by a single river, coexisting without conflict for millennia. The reason the city has not been swallowed by sand is that the wind direction has remained unchanged for thousands of years, always converging at the city's southern edge, never shifting northward.
In Uyghur, "Kumutage" means "sand mountain," referring to giant dunes with a relative height exceeding 100 meters. Whether dashing through the dunes by car or sliding down on a board, you experience the joy of using a mountain as a mega-slide.
Voices from BlueRun
No matter rain or shine, windy or still, hot or cold, green or dry, it is the people that make the difference!
Gobi crossing, Tianshan hiking, valley camping, desert off-roading... with the team, we braved sandstorms, weathered sudden downpours, climbed to peaks, slept in secluded valleys, crossed streams, traversed deserts, watched sunsets, greeted rainbows. Some moments only gained their meaning because we were with the people of BlueRun.
The sequence of breaking through in nature goes like this: 1. First try the "above-rope" method — the "iron chains swaying over the rushing river" approach; 2. Lose balance halfway across; 3. Switch to the "below-rope" method, pulling yourself across with upper arm strength. Though my hands were too sore afterward to even open my backpack... fun!
This team retreat, for me, was more than ten firsts: wilderness survival, fire-starting, knife-edge sand sliding, rope river crossing, desert off-roading, naan-baking... plus a fundamental update to my understanding of the relationship between individual and collective in high-quality decision-making. BlueRun is the blue of blue skies, the run of galloping freely!
Rain soaked through my cold-weather gear, the hiking pack bent my back, and I once wondered when this would ever end... until the rainbow appeared after the rain, the river of stars filled the night sky, streams emerged at the end of the path, and smiling faces gathered around the fire in the lush forest — and then there I was, striding boldly through the mountain forest, singing aloud.
Six hours of desert off-roading, grilling skewers in the sand-wind — turns out fine sand really does aid digestion, haha!
More to Explore
Originating in Silicon Valley, BlueRun Ventures was established in 2005 and is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups.
Currently, BlueRun Ventures manages multiple USD and RMB dual-currency funds in China, with assets under management exceeding RMB 15 billion, making it one of the largest early-stage funds in the country. It invests primarily at Pre-A and Series A stages, covering sectors including hard tech and innovative interaction, enterprise technology, new consumption, and healthcare. The firm has invested in over 150 startups, including Li Auto, Waterdrop, QingCloud, Guazi.com, Qudian, Songguo Chuxing, Ganji.com, Energy Monster, Yuntu Semiconductor, Machenike, YunSheng Intelligence, Anxin Wangdun, and BioMap.
BlueRun Ventures has been ranked #1 on Zero2IPO's "China's Top 30 Early-Stage Investment Institutions" and ChinaVenture's "China's Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Institutions TOP30," and was named among Preqin's Top 10 venture capital managers globally for sustained high returns.
The firm has also received consecutive recognition from Forbes China, 36Kr, Cyzone, Caixin Media, CBNweekly, Jiemian, and other media outlets as "China's Best Early-Stage Institution of the Year," "China's Top Venture Capital Firm," "Most Entrepreneur-Friendly Early-Stage Institution of the Year," and "Most Influential Early-Stage Institution of the Year."