By Yue Dongxing and Zhou Huimin

    BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- After trudging down Mt. Qomolangma, Wang Yongfeng drops to his knees and gently strokes the sparse grass between rocks, as gently as he is touching a newborn's face, with tears welling up in his bloodshot eyes.

    "The more dangers you have experienced, the more deeply you feel about life," said the captain of the Chinese mountaineering team who carried the Olympic flame to the top of the world on May 8.

    "Life is so good. Just being alive is the happiest thing in the world," he added.

    "To me, tiny green grass always looks pretty," said Wang. "It could move me to tears especially when I just finished a climbing mission after being surrounded by snow and rocks all day," said the 45-year-old Wang.

    Despite his four-time climbing experience at the 8844.43-meter (29,035-foot) Mt. Qomolangma, his fifth on May 8 was the most special.

    At 9:12 a.m, Wang and his teammates carried the Olympic flame to the summit of Mt. Qomolangma and finished an unprecedented Olympic torch relay.

    "One World, One Dream," Wang shouted the Beijing Olympic slogan before passing the flame to next bearer.

    "This mission is different from the previous four experiences. After a century of expectation, China's Olympic dream finally came true. For us climbers, we look forward to honoring the promise China made to the world: bring the flame to Mt. Qomolangma.

    "It's hard to describe the feelings about holding the Olympic torch at the world's summit," Wang said. "Proud, excited and touched, you name it. I was overwhelmed."

    Since starting his career in 1984, Wang has completed what a top mountaineer can dream about. During his first 11 years as a mountaineer, he became the first Chinese to scale the highest peaks all over the seven continents.

    Talking about his next goal, Wang said that he would keep pushing for progress of China's mountaineering.

    "My age doesn't allow me to continue physically demanding expeditions, but I won't call it quits," said Wang. "I would teach young climbers about my experiences, skills and ideas accumulated over these years."

    After surmounting most of the high summits on the planet, Wang insists the Mt. Qomolangma experience is the most spectacular and influential to his life.

    "It's unique because it is the highest in the world and you can meet unknown challenges out there. I have already fallen in love with Mt. Qomolangma," he said.

    However, the mountain Wang loves most almost took his life in 1993. After scaling Mt. Qomolangma with other climbers, Wang was trapped alone in an icefall at the 8,700-meter on his way back. The exhausted Wang lost contact with the base camp and his teammates could do nothing but search the mountain through telescope.

    After a 28-hour wait, the camp went into wild when they finally found an orange spot on the vast expanse of whiteness. That was Wang's coat. With a never-say-quits attitude and an oxygen bottle left by earlier climbers, Wang overcame the "Death Zone" and returned to the camp. But he had to have several frostbitten toes removed.

    "It was a memorable experience for me," said Wang. "I almost lost my life, but I never regret choosing this career. You never know what kind of challenge you will face. That's the beauty of mountaineering."

    Many regard mountaineering as a process for humans to conquer nature, but Wang disagrees.

    "It's wrong," he said. "Mountaineering is about building a harmonious relationship between climbers and nature. If you want to use the word 'conquer', you'd better put it this way: people conquer themselves in mountaineering."

    When hearing about the devastating earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12, the mountaineering hero said he would work for earthquake relief.

    "I feel so sad," he said. "If needed, I would like to do everything I can to help, including going to the earthquake-hit areas to work for the relief.

    "I want to say to the earthquake survivors: no matter how many difficulties you are facing, you must be strong."

    Wang's family are strong, at least they look like so.

    "It's not easy to be a climber's wife," said Wang. "My wife and daughter never see me off when I am leaving for an expedition. They just take it as a business trip. I know they are worried, but they never show that way."

    In a separate interview with Xinhua, Wang's wife Wang Leqin said she never saw off her husband because that would look like a last farewell parting.

    "We never say goodbye. I would say: see you soon," said Wang Leqin.