Cleaning Up the Great Wall

Leave a place better than you found it. It’s a simple philosophy, but one that William Lindesay holds dear. He has been cleaning up the Great Wall since 2002. “He who cares is the owner,” said William. “The Great Wall belongs to China, and is also one of the greatest structures in the world. Everyone has a responsibility to protect it.” Graduated from University of Liverpool, William has been attracted by the Great Wall since he was a child when he first discovered it in a book. His passion has led him to China three times, and he walked 2,470km exploring the Great Wall during the 1980s before settling down in China in 1990. During the past three decades, he has spent most of his time walking the Great Wall and developed his own efforts to protect the cultural relic. The garbage on the Great Wall has increased over the years. William and his friends collected 288 bags of garbage last year. “It’s a good thing that people are going out to enjoy themselves and to discover the great heritage and history, but it’s also quite dangerous if they don’t understand how fragile the environment is and how fragile the ancient objects are,” said William. “Every person can make a difference. If we can get a billion Chinese people to be environmentalists, China will be a green, beautiful and healthy country to live in.” William believes that in order to get people passionate about the Great Wall, they need to know more about it and its history. Since 1989, he has published six books about the Great Wall. In 2001, he founded the International Friends of the Great Wall, an association that is aimed at protecting this link to the past. Next he will organize exhibitions about the Great Wall as a monument over the last 400 years around the world.