"I first saw the Great Wall on a map in 1967 when I was only 11 years old. I spent a long time trying to work out how long the Great Wall was, but I failed. I thought I would surely go there one day," said William Lindesay, a Great Wall researcher from the UK.
The Englishman did what he said. He came to China in 1986 with a plan to run the whole length of the Great Wall. But that year his goal was not achieved. William came back a year later and realized his dream. In 1990, he decided to live in China. Then he bought a farmhouse near the Great Wall.
"Many people wonder why I'm obsessed greatly by the Great Wall. The first reason is that it's beautiful, and the second thing is that it's outdoors. There's history in the outdoors. You need to move to discover it. And the third point is it's fun. The Great Wall is in my mind every day," said William.
William's younger son Thomas said, "I often describe my childhood as ‘wild', staying at the foot of the Great Wall almost every weekend. It's amazing because not many people get to see such world heritage all the time, and I got to see it all year around." His elder son James said, "Living here has a lot of effect on how I see the Great Wall. It's almost like my backyard, so I should protect it."
William has published 11 books about the Great Wall in 30 years. He has also completed several photo projects on the Great Wall. "It made me so happy when our film was shown on the BBC. For the first time we got an hour and a half to open the eyes of the British , and show them what the Great Wall is. We received lots of emails from people saying that they really enjoyed it and didn't know that China was so beautiful. I became a ‘Great Wall ambassador (大使)'," said William.
