On this day, 40 years ago, on July 24, 1985 (June 7, 1985 in the lunar calendar), Yao Maoshu, the first person to drift along the Yangtze River, hit a rock and died. The first Yangtze River rafting team was drifting On July 24, 1985, Yao Maoshu, the first person to drift the Yangtze River, hit a rock and died in the Jinsha River section after drifting for 1270 kilometers. In 1985, the news that the United States would send a "torrent expedition" to drift down from the source of the Yangtze River in autumn prompted Yao Maoshu, who had the idea of rafting the Yangtze River as early as 1979, to decide to board the rafting Yangtze River first. At the end of March, he traveled through Lanzhou and Xining at his own expense, crossed Qinghai Lake, crossed the Qaidam Basin, passed through Xizang and crossed the Tanggula Mountains, and arrived at the source of the Yangtze River in early June. The 30-year-old Yao Maoshu had visited the Tuotuo River at the source of the Yangtze River and the dangerous Tiger Leaping Gorge several times to investigate water conditions and collect data. He also consulted Yang Liankang, who visited the Yellow River on foot in 1981, and also used a simple raft to travel around the middle section of the Jinsha River. Pilot more than ten times. On July 24, after drifting for 1270 kilometers, he hit a rock and died in the Jinsha River section. Yao Maoshu's action opened the first page of the Yangtze River rafting and set off a craze for rafting the Yangtze River. On April 21, 1986, the Yangtze River Scientific Expedition Drifting Expedition Team was established in Chengdu and began the entire rafting process in mid-June. Three months later, they finally arrived at Wusongkou, but team members Kong Min, Wang Jianjun, Wang Zhen, Yang Qianming and reporter Wan Ming sacrificed their lives for this.