TIANJIN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Alonzo Bland, a 640-pound man from the United States, arrived at a weight-loss hospital in this northern port city early on Tuesday to start a one-year weight loss journey in China.

    Bland, 32, standing 182 centimeters high, is from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He won a national contest, Winners in Life, sponsored by a company called China Connection. The prize is one year of free treatment in China.

    He tried numerous weight loss products in America but failed to shed many pounds.

    "I want to get my weight down to 200 pounds. I won't go home until I succeed," said Bland at 2 a.m. at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital, which focuses on diet and exercise along with herbal medicine and massages.

    Reporters were eager to see Bland on Monday evening, but they had to wait for two hours after his plane landed at 8:10 p.m. Although Bland was the first to get off the plane, he quickly fell to the ground, gasping, and it took some time for him to be helped up and get moving again.

    A tracheal tube helps him breathe, offsetting the effect of the fat on his chest and neck, which presses his windpipe.

    "I would die if I don't lose weight," he explained to reporters.

    Masaru Kato of Japan, a patient in the hospital, welcomed Blandat the airport. "I was the same. As long as he carries on, he will succeed," he said. Kato reduced his weight to 243 pounds from 617 pounds in 2003 when he first came to the hospital.

    Bland plans to keep a video diary of his progress over the next year.