Mapping the ancient trails
The Ming Great Wall of China is a 4,000km-trek across rural China, crossing deserts, mountains, plateaus and farmlands.
German Andreas Lehmann, 50, said he and his travel companions “walked from sunrise to sunset, day by day” with few rest days. He is “the angel” who accompanied retiree Ooi Thean Hin on several walks together along the Ming Great Wall.
He said via email from Hannover, his hometown, that “the physical stress was enormous and the weather was not always nice”.
“There was rain, strong sun, wind, sandstorm and snow. Sometimes, we were trapped by thunderstorms and exposed to the ridges with no way to escape. Long sections of the wall were covered with dense and very, very thorny shrubs. We had wounds and scratches on our arms and legs as a result,” said Lehmann, who studied physics and astronomy and works in IT management.
Lehmann’s interest in the Great Wall of China was piqued when he saw it for the first time in 1995. “I immediately had the idea that such a long thing must have a beginning and an end. Thus, the idea of the walk arose,” he recalled.
As he started to read about the wall and its history, he became more and more interested. He bought all available books and gathered whatever information he could get.
“I got even more fascinated as I started to understand how many old walls there are in China and around the world. To my knowledge, there were 23 dynasties in China that built the long walls.
“There are many more walls around the world – such as the Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and the Roman border wall in Germany,” said Lehmann, who, in the last 10 years had not only walked the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty but many others.
“I discovered some of the walls myself and they were absolutely unknown even in China. In all, I have walked the walls of the State of Zhongshan, Zhao, Qin, Han, Northern and Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Song, Xia and Jin Dynasties – in all about 7,000km,” Lehmann said.
Many people, he said, think that walking along the Great Wall is a very romantic trail. “Absolutely not so,” he insisted.
“It was more a fight. Sometimes, it is dangerous because of the lack of water in the desert. Or when you’re at steep cliffs where you can’t find any safe way down.” Nightfall in the mountains too can be risky. “This is because of temperature drops, especially when it is cloudless. Being exposed on the ridges, there is absolutely no shelter from the cold Mongolian winds,” he said, adding that trekkers would carry as light a load as possible due to the long, long sections and the high consumption of water.
However, overnight stays are possible in areas with intact towers.
Lehmann explained: “Taking all these into account, you can judge how much an accomplishment Ooi’s walk was. There are many more people who started this walk than those who finished it. Only a handful of people did this trek and many did not walk the entire wall as Ooi did.
“They could not find sections of the wall (sometimes, even with the best maps) or access to the wall due to overly dense vegetation. As far as I know, Ooi’s walk was by far the most complete hike ever.”
Actually, Lehmann helped mapped out the GPS tracks for Ooi. The latter contacted him via the Great Wall forum (www.greatwallforum.com).
He said: “If someone contacts me on the forum for tips on about how to walk the Great Wall, I will usually help. To plan their treks is like walking to all those locations I had been before.”
Most people, he reckoned, would never embark on such a walk – like Ooi did – when they understood how much time it would take, how difficult the journey would be and how much effort it took.
Lehmann’s “immediate impression” of Ooi was that he would finish his walk.
“He gave me a good impression about how driven he was by this walk. He showed interest in more than just the walk but in the country, people, culture and history. This was exactly what I was walking for, not the physical experience.”
There are tricky sections (desert passage without water, rivers, cliffs, military areas and others). But Lehmann knew that there were always solutions.
“Walking with Ooi was fun. He was an interesting conversational partner. We had long conversations about what we saw out there, about our countries, about everything. I learned that shared experiences are more valuable than one’s own. I was very happy to have found a real friend.
“I am not sure I would have completed the whole trek without him. He achieved his dream while I achieved mine. We walked for different reasons.”