When I lived in Beijing, one of my favorite things to do was go to take visitors to the Great Wall in the mountains outside of the city. There are a few designated Great Wall tourist sites, but I also enjoyed exploring some of the unrestored and undeveloped sites as well.
But I never did what Great Wall historian William Lindesay did, namely hike the length of it. To celebrate 30 years of working in China, he and his family spent a year hiking from the easternmost part of the wall at Shanhaiguan to the western terminus at Jiayuguan.
As reported by the BBC:
British geographer, conservationist and author William Lindesay has had a lifelong obsession with the Great Wall of China. Three decades ago, he left his home on Merseyside to live near the wall so he might better be able to study it. In 2016 he and his family travelled 15,000km (9,320 miles) around the wall network, filming it from the air with a drone. Mr Lindesay and his sons, Jim and Thomas, spoke to the BBC about their epic journey and how they shot it.
A video clip of some of the best shots can be found here. (email readers, please click on the link to see the video.) These are shots and perspectives not seen before and they are amazing.
You can read a more detailed account of the journey here.
Another video that makes me homesick for China….
Related Posts:
The Great Wall — Fact or Fantasy?
Friday Photo: The Wall in Spring
1 thought on “The Great Wall by Drone”