Where do you conclude a journey that you don't really want to
end?
To celebrate my 20 years in China we followed the Great Wall
from Old Dragons' Head, where it meets the sea, past our Beijing
home, across the Yellow River, along the Silk Road, beyond
Jiayuguan - the end of the Ming Wall, to Jade Gate, a checkpoint on
the Han Dynasty Wall, dating back 2,100 years.
Here the remains of a solitary watchtower stand on a hillock
near a small oasis, with desolation all around.
William Lindesay and Wu Qi enjoy a glass of wine at Yang Pass,
where they concluded their safari by jeep along the Wall. Piao
Tiejun
As a hopeless romantic, the Jade Gate presented itself as an
obvious option for concluding this jubilee celebration. My wife's
name is Wu Qi and means "beautiful jade".
Another reason was that when I was planning the safari I heard
my eldest son James reciting a poem by the Tang poet Wang Wei:
"Take another glass of wine for friendship's sake/For west of Yang
Pass you won't find any friends."
It rang true for me. Many of my friendships have been nurtured
by the Great Wall, most of which now lay behind us, to the
east.
As if set up by CCTV, the sun was setting as I uncorked a bottle
of wine and poured measures into bronze cups. I toasted Wu Qi,
thanking her for planning the trip, because I had just the idea but
she did the organizing.
Already, some of the visits, events and discoveries on our 6,450
km drive were becoming treasured memories.
The aim of the sojourn was simple: To celebrate the good fortune
of coming to China in the mid 1980s, fulfilling an adventurer's
dream, and finding not only a Great Wall, but many great Wall
friendships.
This drive allowed me to meet old friends, discover new things,
and share the marvel of the Wall with my wife and sons. For me the
Wall has been a great classroom, a matchmaker for a wife, and an
endless passion.
I believe a journey along the Wall is endless too, it cannot
really be finished, only "abandoned". There's so much of it and one
journey leads to another.
Camping one night beside the Wall in Gansu, listening to a wild
storm in the shelter of our tent, James suddenly said to me in an
excited voice: "Dad, can we do another trip along the Wall for your
30th anniversary?"
"That'll be 2017!" I replied, "and yes - but on one condition -
that you'll be my driver."
James grinned broadly under his head-torch. We shook hands and
said goodnight.
(China Daily February 22, 2008)
