Rebecca J. Stonesin Skeptics Stack Exchange • Recommends
On “Did the Chinese chairman Xi Jinping carry 100 kg of wheat and walk 5 km of mountain road without switching shoulders?”
Rigorously verifying or refuting the claim seems rather difficult. It appears more likely that the anecdote is exaggerated, and not strictly true as stated.
The most persuasive argument I found comes from link to this video, wherein three muscular men attempt to replicate this feat. Together, the three men made it 550 meters. Going up stairs was slow and difficult, and eventually the pole holding the weight broke.
For a visual comparison, here is a photo of Xi Jinping in 1972 (when Xi Jinping was 19) which is within the relevant time period (1969 to 1975):
新华社刊发习近平系列照片, 2012 (cropped and resized).
The only other evidenced argument I found was in some Chinese-language news articles (Huanqiu a…