Alone on the Great Wall

Lindesay ran alone for more than 1,500 miles to conquer an ancient symbol of xenophobia—the Great Wall of China. This trip diary portrays his affinity for the Chinese people.

British long distance runner William Lindesay arrived in Beijing with nothing more than a pair of running shoes, a 12 lb. backpack, a sleeping bag and a desire to be the first foreigner to run the Great Wall of China.

Throughout his incredible journey, he survived illness and injury, extremes of temperature, attacks by shepherd dogs, bubonic plague, arrest and deportation. Nine months later he finally triumphed, reaching the Old Dragon's Head, the end of the Great Wall by the Yellow Sea. In his words, "the Dragon was slain."

Lindesay's journey was more than a test of physical strength. Each day, with limited knowledge of the language, he depended on the hospitality of Chinese villagers for water, shelter, and food, giving him a rare view of peasant life. As he ran along the wall and through its history, he came to identify with the soldiers of the imperial frontier, the merchants of the Silk Road and the heroes of the Long March. All but fifty miles of his 1,500-mile journey was through forbidden territory, and he quickly learned how to dodge the relentless bureaucrats of the Public Security Bureau. Alone on the Great Wall is the remarkable story of Lindesay's triumphant run.

Publishers Weekly

British runner Lindesay longs to be a traveler in the grand manner, admitting that he was drawn to make his grueling 2500-kilometer run along the length of China's Great Wall because it was ``the last great adventure opportunity.'' This chronicle of his two-year obsession describes two ill-planned and abortive attempts ending in sickness and retreat and his final successful journey. Lindesay battles bureaucracy, blisters and the elements, all of which seem bent on preventing his attainment of an avowedly quixotic goal. Along the route, he meets his future wife and gains the rare privilege of seeing behind the facade of a totalitarian state and into the faces of its people. Well-written and entertaining, the book should appeal to runners, who vicariously will share the author's travails and cheer his determination and ultimate good fortune. Armchair tourists will enjoy the wealth of information about the Middle Kingdom and the daily lives of its citizens. However, Lindesay's use of Briticismsstet/rl and his right-wing politics (he presents AIDS to some inquisitive Chinese as a gay disease) will deter many readers from following this intrepid athlete the distance. (Sept.)

William Lindesay's yen for adventurous travel was inspired by his prep school headmaster, who thought an atlas should be at everyone's bedside. This fascination with maps led Lindesay to a degree in geography and geology from the University of Liverpool. Lindesay is now living in China, where he is working on another book.