In 1911, English journalist Edwin Dingle put on his hiking boots and had a look around China. His resulting book, Across China, told of his walk from Chongqing to the Burmese border.
'Well that's not really across China, is it?' says author and former Reuters China bureau chief Graham Earnshaw (pictured with rural children), who decided to walk from Shanghai to Tibet - in chunks. He'd walk every month, each time starting from where he had left off. The resulting book, The Great Walk of China, details Earnshaw's encounters with rural and urban folk along the way. His ability to speak and read Chinese, means his narrative is all the richer for his chats with farmers, grandmothers and children in villages.
Earnshaw is well-versed in things Chinese, having first arrived here in 1973, but rather than pontificate on the phenomenal change that has occurred in China over the past two decades, he decided to allow the conversations he had along the way reflect those developments.
'All corners of China have been affected by the incredible pace of development,' he said. While that economic development has fundamentally improved people's lives 'a price has been paid.' After his walks, and having seen the country in the 1970s and 80s, Earnshaw felt he could lend some perspective to the fast-paced changes the country has undergone.
As well as penning several books on China, Earnshaw is a musician and songwriter with several stints on bands including the 'China Mugs'. He will talk about his walk at the FCC this evening.