In 30 days David and I will land in Beijing to begin a two-week exploration of the Great Wall of China, My family history makes this a very special trip with deep personal significance.

This won’t be any typical package tour, but instead we will be guests of family friends with deep roots at the Great Wall going back 40-plus years. Our friends will take us on a personal tour to the eastern and western ends, over 1500 miles apart, and to various midway points.

Our hosts will be William Lindesay, his wife Wu Qi, sons James and Thomas, and their families and friends. William walked the entire Great Wall in 1987. His sons walked and jogged the entire length in 2022.

I would not have known any of this except for one person who brought us all together decades after he died — Dr. William Edgar Geil, adoptive grandfather to me, my two brothers and sister. Edgar, as we called him in the family, beat everyone to the Great Wall. He walked its full length in 1908, the first person documented to have done so.

Among the high points of our visit — and I’m sure there will be dozens! — we will be guests at a reception at the Beijing residence of Peter Wilson CMG, the British Ambassador to China. David and I promise to be on our best behavior and avoid any diplomatic incident!

The Back Story

William Lindesay grew up in England near Liverpool, hence the connection to the British ambassador. He was enthralled with the Great Wall as a youth, becoming determined to travel to China and walk its full length. It was an arduous experience interrupted by weather, illness, injuries, and numerous unpleasant encounters with the authorities. He was arrested nine times and deported once.

Most of China was closed to foreigners in 1987 so the police didn’t take too kindly to his roaming about. By contrast, William found farmers and average citizens in China very friendly and helpful. Several families took him in as he walked along the Wall, fed him, and cared for him the few times he fell ill.

Ultimately William succeeded in his mission, met and married Wu Qi along the way, and made his life in China. He established the International Friends of the Great Wall, devoting his life to promoting and preserving the physical structure and its history. William tells his story in a compelling two-volume memoir available at Amazon (Vol. 1, Vol. 2).

The Wall of Two Williams

A few years after William’s 1987 walk, in 1991, he learned that he had not been the first person to traverse the Great Wall — or even the first William! He was second on both counts.

Upon hearing William speak, a woman sent him a copy of an early book, The Great Wall of China by Dr. William Edgar Geil. Happily I’ve just discovered while doing this post that our grandfather’s book is available at Amazon, even including a Kindle edition! He could never have imagined.

After learning of our grandfather’s accomplishment, William went searching for Geil’s descendants in the United States and eventually found us in January 2008 — just in time for a ceremony six months later in June at Geil’s grave in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. There we marked the centennial of his traverse along the Great Wall complete with a permanent commemorative plaque brought over from China.

Since then we’ve grown close to William and his family. We met again with William last year in far northern Michigan following my brother John’s death in February. John was in possession of 22 trunks, crates and boxes containing a huge and well-preserved archive of Geil’s historical writings and photographs. They hadn’t been examined closely since Geil died in 1925!

My other brother Brad and I waited for William to join us in Michigan so he could open the containers himself. There were many eureka moments when William found things he’d always hoped for but feared were lost forever. Brad and I have donated the entire collection to William and to the International Friends of the Great Wall. It will be used for books, films and exhibits. The first public exhibit containing items found in Michigan will take place at Ambassador Wilson’s Beijing residence next month.

The Forgotten Explorer

The story of our grandfather is too lengthy for this space but I welcome interested readers here to explore the links below. This trailer to a documentary about our grandfather provides a tantalizing preview. (Refresh this page if the video isn’t visible.)

Follow Our Trip Each Day Along the Great Wall

I plan to blog throughout David’s and my 14 days in China, hopefully everyday (God and the Internet willing). You can find my posts each day right here. Save or bookmark this link and mark your calendar to visit me here each day from September 13 through 28.

If You’d Like to Know More…

…check out these links:

From my Website

◼︎ Return to Doylestown introduces William Geil and tells the Geil family history in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. It also tells the story of a truly amazing series events — over just six months! — that brought strangers from opposite sides of the world together in June 2008.

◼︎ Doylestown 2008 presents more history and the full story of the June 2008 events.

◼︎ Doylestown 2009. We gathered again a year later.

◼︎ The Wall of Two Williams talks about the work and lives of the two Williams, Geil and Lindesay.

◼︎ Remembering the Barrens tells of life at “the Barrens,” the 10,000 square foot mansion in Doylestown where our grandparents lived. I was a bit young, but my brothers John and Brad share their childhood memories.

Elsewhere in this Blog

◼︎ Two Brothers Walk China’s Great Wall End-to-End. William’s sons James and Thomas walked and jogged the entire length of the Great Wall in 2022. They documented their experience in 22 stunning HD videos including breathtaking aerial drone footage — all here.
◼︎ Review: A Story as Compelling as the Great Wall. I wrote a review of William’s memoir for Amazon.

By William Lindesay

◼︎ How I found my kindred spirit along the Great Wall of China. Last February William wrote this article in The Observer. Published in the United Kingdom, it’s the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. William tells the story of his 1987 walk, of learning about William Geil, of finding the Laycock family, and his joy at opening the long-sealed Geil archive sitting in brother John’s basement.

Title image is from the masthead of my website section on Dr. William Edgar Geil. Photo credit: iStock.com/Songquan Deng