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Name： William LindesayNationality： BritishOccupation： commonweal AffairsTime in China： 18 yearsWilliam Lindesay is not a popular nameamongst the Chinese people， but the moment itis mentioned he was the first foreigner to volunteerhimself to pick up garbage on the GreatWall of China and was the founder of “InternationalFriends of the Great Wall”， he is rememberedwith reverence and fond memories.
88 Chairman Mao Tse-tung， all along said， “Who are we if wedon’t reach the Great Wall?” This aroused lofty sentiments and aspirationsof numerous people all over ever since.
William Lindesay， a Briton， had a dream ever since he was alittle boy. He accomplished his dream in 1987 by finishing a journeyof 2，450 kilometers of the Great Wall on foot. After his childhooddream came true， he put himself into a cause of Great Wall protection.
In 2001， he registered “International Friends of the Great Wall” inHong Kong， calling for conservation of the Great Wall. He organizedvolunteer activities and took people to clean up the environment of theGreat Wall several times， and thus became known as “the foreignerpicking up garbage on the Great Wall” in China. His unusual contributionto the Great Wall won him the “Friendship Medal” issued by theChinese government and received interview by Premier Zhu Rongjiin 1998. He was later awarded the rank of OBE （Order of the BritishEmpire） granted by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in Buckingham Palacein 2006.
William Lindesay said， “Who are we if we cannot cherish theGreat Wall?” echoing Chairman Mao’s saying “Who are we if we don’
t reach the Great Wall? He put his precepts into practice.
A Life with Wall Is Written in the StarsWilliam Lindesay was born in Wallesay， Liverpool in 1956. Asa little boy， he had his own likings. He didn’t like to receive the traditionaleducation of a public primary school， and often jumped out ofwindows to play truant and do “outdoor activities” alone. His parentsthen sent him to a private school which charged dearly. But teachersthere had a new way of teaching. They often took the kids to the fieldto be close to nature， and made them learn a lot of things in such naturalenvironments. This was just right for little William， and he thoughtthis private school was much better and had much fun than the publicschool.
His teacher himself was a priest. He told his students that “Onemust have three books with him at his bedside， one is a prayer book，another is the Bible， and the other is an atlas. Prayer books and the Biblecould not quench thirst of little William’s. He liked to study atlas.
So the book Oxford World Atlas for Students carried him away. Fromit he learned of the world outside Wallesay， got to know the three islandsof Britain， learned about the remote China and the Great Wallthere. “I saw China on the map. The Great Wall stretched on the NorthChina. It is so beautiful. I also saw the starting point and the end pointof the Great Wall on the map. I dreamed I could walk from one side allthe way to the other side.” That was when he was 11 years old. Laterhe was discouraged to make the venture as China was undergoing theCultural Revolution （1966-1976）。
Sometimes one’s word can influence a child’s whole life. WilliamLindesay loved running in his early years， perhaps influencedby his two brothers who were marathon runners， and always won thetrophies in school. He not only loved to run along the track， but alsoon highways. His marathon record was two hours and thirty-nine minutes，which showed his physical quality is no less than sports stars.
90 Actually， he loved to run cross-country race. In 1985， he and his elderbrother Nick spent 11 hours to finish a 118-kilometer long race of theHadrian Wall. That is a 11 8-kilometer long defense wall built in 12by King Hadrian of the ancient Roman Empire. During the race， Nicksaid， “the Hadrian Wall， compared with the Great Wall of China， is justlike a toy. You are young and unmarried without a family’s burden.
Why don’t you try to run on the Great Wall? That ignited the spark in William， and then there was no lookingback.
To accomplish his dream， William Lindesay later went to collegeand took geography and geology as his major. He liked to go hiking inWales and Scotland in order to get ready both physically and spiritually.
Besides， his mother gave him a roll of film every week to let himpractice his photographic skills during the hike in order to record thesceneries of the Great Wall he would see in the future.
After graduation from Liverpool University， he worked in NorthSea Oil Field. The drill and production platform on the sea was verysmall， but he didn’t give up his running around it everyday. Later hewent to work at a magazine of the Manchester University and neverstopped his preparation for the Great Wall. In 1980 when he visitedthe headquarter of American National Geographic in Washington， he bought a globe on which the Great Wall of China was marked. Hefound no pyramid， no Taj Mahal， nor any other man-made ancient sitesmarked on it beside the Great Wall. The Great Wall was the only manmadesite displayed， which fortified his conviction of “Who are we ifwe don’t reach the Great Wall? At last one day his passion and power were released on a greatwall and his talents and influence were brought into full play on a largerplatform. Because of his destiny， William’s life with wall was writtenin the stars. He was born in Wallesay， grew up under the HadrianWall， and shone with dazzling splendor on the Great Wall of China.
The three places had one word in common — Wall， while particularlythe Great Wall， several thousand kilometers long， was always in hisdream， under his feet， in his cameras， and his books.
He firmly believed that he was born for the Great Wall but henever knew that he would have a lifelong tie with the Great Wall.