One could almost believe that the age of discovery and exploration is in decline, but thankfully there are still people out there with a passion for unveiling the unknown and solving mysteries. William Lindesay is one of them. And thankfully, there are organisations that will help promote and share these discoveries: WildChina – in Zhang Mei’s words “Curators of Adventurous Life” – proudly sponsored a wonderful evening of history, discovery, intrigue and adventure.
After 25 years of research and with the impressive title (among many other achievements) of solo trekking the 2,470km of the Great Wall in 1987, Lindesay passionately told us about his new discovery, object of his continuing research.
After raining incessantly all afternoon, when it finally stopped, we could sit outside in the courtyard. It was a beautiful summer’s evening, in a cosy, relaxed atmosphere we enjoyed home-made beer from “Great Leap Brewing” while watching Lindesay’s presentation about “The Great Wall Outside of China”. The talk was followed by a delicious buffet-dinner served by chef Omar, from “Mercante” restaurant.
In an engaging audio-visual talk, Lindesay presented his theory that a section of the “Genghis Khan Wall’ in Outer Mongolia was actually built by the Chinese, a statement that has provoked surprise, shock, incredulity and even online attacks.
After years of research, with the unconditional support of his wife, Qi, and sons Jimmy and Tommy; the advances of technology and satellite imaging helped Lindesay to point down an area where evidence could be found and so he organised an expedition to the Gobi desert in Mongolia. A logistically well organised field trip (“Expedition Impossible”), years of historical research, in-situ sample collection and expert carbon dating are the basis for Lindesay’s hypothesis that this Wall was built by the Western Xia, a dynasty that ruled over parts of North Western China between 1038 and 1227.
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Blog written by Chelin Miller.
For more information about William Lindesay, please get in touch at info@wildchina.com.
Great Leap Brewing
Mercante Restaurant
