GO ASIA TRAIL 
Today, I would like to delve into the company that organizes Ultra Trail Ninghai by UTMB and its representative. Ultra Trail Ninghai is a pioneer in trail races in China, with events held since 2013. Although it was included in the by UTMB series in 2023, it was announced that it will be dropped from the by UTMB series three years later, in October 2025. This is the same information we covered on 🥉
月刊GO ASIA TRAIL 2025.11号 / Ultra Trail Ninghai by UTMB の離脱 we posted the other day.
After that, I looked into Ultra Trail Ninghai, and found that the head of the organizer, Xue Qianyao, is a famous trail running organizer in China, so to speak. So, my interest was piqued, and I made an in-depth article.
About Xue Qianyao
The sound of runners' footsteps running through the mountains and fields of China awakens the quiet villages of the countryside. There, one man's passion lives on. Xue Qian Yao (nicknamed "Da Bao") is the CEO of Shanghai Skyview Sport. His small step in 2013 has now, 12 years later, brought the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) World Series to life and created a model for regional development. Today, we bring you Xue's story, unraveling it through interviews and articles. We hope you too will heed the call of this mountain field.
Fuji at a turning point: the spark of passion
It all began in April 2013 at Mt. Xue was busy as a project manager at a foreign company at the time. He started running under the influence of his younger brother, and since 2009, he has continued to challenge himself in domestic and international races, finally taking on the Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji (100 miles = approx. 161 km). Fuji (100 miles = approx. 161 km). He completed the race, despite being covered in rain and fog, on a grueling mountain road with an elevation gain of over 9,000 meters.
At the finish line, he received a warm embrace from race director Takeshi Kaburaki. At that moment, my heart trembled. I want to hold an event in China where we can share this kind of joy," Xue said. This emotion turned on the switch to start his own business. From May to June of the same year, Xue and his friends went to Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, on an inspection tour. Fascinated by the National Mountaineering Trail, which traces the ancient path of Ming Dynasty traveler Xu Xiaoge, he organized his first event within a few months, the 79-member "Ninghai Ultra Trail Challenge," which was launched in October 2013. Instead of a signal gun, the villagers shouted, and the refreshments were homemade porridge and pickles. It was a grassroots race supported only by pure passion, without even a timing device.
This experience instilled in Xue the philosophy that "events are public goods that bring people together," he said in a 2015 interview. "It is important to create a benign cycle between the participants and the organizers. Quality service attracts sponsors and media".
Running through the Muddy Road: Growth and Trials
The Ninghai Race has rapidly evolved from its initial simplicity: by 2014, a 100km category had been added, and the course, which takes runners through the bamboo forests, tea plantations, and valleys of Jiangnan, has attracted hundreds of runners. The number of participants swelled to several hundred, and Xue resigned from his corporate job to officially establish Kyu Jing Sports. In parallel, he launched the Qiandao Lake Marathon and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Super Yueye Challenge, as well as road running under the playful brand name of "Lake Run Pao. The group of events, which took advantage of the natural beauty of the JiangZhe-Hu region, targeted urban professionals and focused on the theme of freedom and aesthetics.
However, the road was not smooth: during the 2016-2017 financial crisis, the company ran out of cash flow and faced a loss of employee motivation; the COVID-19 disaster forced the cancellation of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain event, and the individual running distance in 2020 plummeted to just 3,500 km. While the entire industry was frozen by the State General Administration of Sports and Culture's order to cancel the event after the 2021 Gansu Baiyin Mountain race disaster (21 deaths), Xue stressed that "risk management is at the core of organizers. He continued to invest in satellite communications and high-altitude rescue teams, and kept the Ninghai Race on a low profile.
Xue's philosophy was honed through these trials. In an interview in 2025, he recalled, "The event is a spiritual and cultural product. The event is a spiritual and cultural product. The only thing that will be remembered is the joy. We are not obsessed with the result, but take it seriously so that it will generate spirit. Patient coordination with stakeholders (government, villagers, and sponsors), safety of athletes first, and environmental protection (achieving carbon neutralization) are the keys to his operation.
To the International Stage and a New Chapter
In 2023, the Ninghai race will be the first UTMB World Series certified event in mainland China. The number of participants will reach 4,800 (36 countries/regions), and in 2024, eight runners will break the course record in the 105km category. The economic benefits are immeasurable, giving birth to a model of local development in which income from guesthouses exceeds 10 times the income from farmland, and UTMB founder Catherine Poletti praised the race as "one of the best in terms of cultural depth in Ninghai.
However, after the October 2025 event, it was announced that the event would be withdrawn from the UTMB World Series, and although the three years of cooperation achieved global standards, Xue heralded "an exciting new chapter. As an independent event, Ninghai's uniqueness will be further explored. Xue's goal remains the same--"to become the most competitive off-road event company in Asia.
Xue Qianyi's Legacy: You Too Can Go to the Mountain Fields
The story of Xue Qianyi is more than just an entrepreneurial tale. It is a testament to one man's leap from the daily life of an office worker to the freedom of the wilderness, building China's trail running culture and illuminating the future of the region. In his words, "One day serious, one day done. You, too, can imagine the ancient trails of Ninghai. The muddy trail may show you a new path in life.
Inspired by this story? Let us know in the comments if you are considering participating in the Ninghai race or if you would like to dig deeper into Xue's interview! We will continue to follow him and the future of Ultra Trail Ninghai.
References:.
This article is based on public information. Please check the official website for the latest information.
