Video | How to enjoy the Great Wall of China’s wild side: tips and drone footage from an expert
British geographer, author and unofficial wall ambassador who lives nearby urges visitors to get fit, rise early and take in the wilderness at weekends
To describe William Lindesay as an aficionado on the Great Wall of China doesn’t do justice to his in-depth knowledge, and the lengths he has gone to over three decades.
The British geographer, who estimates he has clocked 2,800 days on the wall, has run its length , written five books about it, and curated historical exhibitions.
“These days there are two walls; the tourist wall and the wilderness wall,” says Lindesay, who leads about 30 guided weekend tours a year and undertakes conservation initiatives there.
Thirty-one years after first setting foot on the wall, his boyish enthusiasm remains undiminished and he retains the lean features of a long-distance runner. Last year, to mark the 30th anniversary of that first trip to China, and his 60th year, he collaborated with his two sons, Jim and Tommy, who have set up their own production company Depictograph. Together, they travelled the entire length of the wall in 60 days and filmed the journey from a drone.
The man who hit the wall and ran on
The footage, which includes aerial images of Jiayuguan Fortress at the western end of the Ming Wall and Zhenbeitai in Shaanxi province, was part of a presentation Lindesay gave to the Royal Geographic Society last week. It is also being collated into a 52-minute documentary to be released next year.
“In 1987 I had a strategy and followed 2,470km of the Ming wall,” he says. An accomplished marathon runner, he ran the entire distance with no support crew or modern communications.
“I stayed with farmers for over 60 nights – I called it ‘the great wall of friendship’ – but I was arrested nine times, deported once, I needed two passports and made three marriage proposals,” he says.
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