When he came upon the Meng River, he found it to be guarded, but crossed anyway and was not stopped; he later stated that he believed the guards had been asleep. Though he recollected his immediate surroundings from his childhood explorations, he eventually passed into less familiar territory; he later told his supporters that he fell more than 200 times during his escape. Communicating with a network of activists via a cell phone, he reached a pre-determined rendezvous point where He Peirong, an English teacher and activist, was waiting for him. A chain of human rights activists then escorted him to Beijing. Several of the activists reported to be involved were detained or disappeared in the days following the announcement of Chen's escape.