Ahead of an RSGS talk in Perth, Michael Alexander speaks to adventurer Leon McCarron about how his epic 3000 mile walking adventure across China inspired him to develop the country’s first official hiking trail.
He has cycled 22,530 kilometres from New York to Hong Kong, ridden across Patagonia on horseback and, as recounted in his 2017 book ‘Land Beyond: A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East’, hiked from the West Bank to the Sinai desert.
But when Northern Ireland-raised half-Scottish writer, filmmaker and adventurer Leon McCarron reflects on his international travels over the past decade, what strikes him about the seven months he spent walking 3000 miles across China from Mongolia to Hong Kong is how big the country is.
“Coming from Northern Ireland and Scotland, one of the amazing things about China is the scale of it and that you can travel for 10 hours and still be in the same country,” said Leon.
“You’ve got the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, deserts, jungles, big rivers – for someone who’s attracted to the outdoors, it’s very appealing.
“But I’ve always been fascinated with places like that. At a time when it feels like the rest of the world is constantly watching what China does sceptically or hopefully, to be there in the midst of it and see what China looks like from the inside at a very rural level was quite a privilege.”
Leon, now 33, embarked upon his epic China hike with fellow adventurer Rob Lilwall in 2011/12.
Having both previously embarked on marathon world cycle trips, and with an interest in China, they realised the beauty of “going slowly and seeing more of a place” so came up with the idea of the mammoth north-to-south walk at an age when it “still seemed like a good idea”.
Last year, he returned to walk in the same country but in a very different way; slowly, and with a very clear purpose to design and implement a long-distance hiking trail.
Working with a small team of international experts and local innovators, Leon was based in Hunan province, exploring the philosophy and potential of trails in the area.
Now, the Irish adventurer is speaking for the prestigious Royal Scottish Geographical Society Inspiring People talks programme in Perth, sharing stories from the Xuefeng Mountain Trail which he recently helped launch.
Along the way, Leon will describe how old pathways have been re-purposed to breathe life into ailing communities, and how these routes will celebrate local pride and ownership of cultural heritage.
He’ll also touch on tourism – how this trail will be the first of its kind in China, attracting foreign visitors to this undiscovered corner, and how life long memories can be created for visitors who challenge themselves on long journeys such as this 100km trail.
“When we did the full 3000 mile walk in 2011/12, most of it was ad hoc,” he told The Courier.
“We were fully self-sufficient. We had 25+kg of weight on our backs. We started in winter as well. It was very cold. Well below zero. Sometimes minus-20 in the north. We had tents, camping stoves, solar panels to charge all of our gear and cameras.
“The first month or so we were crossing the Gobi Desert. We didn’t see that many people at all.
“Then as we moved south it gets more populated. Sometimes we’d sleep out in bivet bags. Sometimes people would invite us in.
“We vaguely planned a route we wanted to use but would inevitably change the plan because someone would recommend somewhere we should visit or a certain path would be closed. It was all very organic.”
Leon said that on the original trip they were met with a lot of “bemusement and total lack of comprehension” by rural dwellers as to why two foreigners would be embarking on such a journey at all let alone on foot.
“People would think we were travelling on foot because we had to – because we had no other options,” he said.
“They’d often offer to bring their car round. People were so friendly. We had to explain we were doing this by choice!”
There were also a few “close calls” when they ran into danger. These were less from the human side and more from the natural world.
“The Gobi Desert went down to minus 30 and below a couple of times,” he said, recalling how childhood trips to the Cairngorms with his dad had helped build his resilience and love of the outdoors.
“If you were out in a snow blizzard in the middle of the desert and all you food and water was in a little trailer that you are pulling along behind you, you were very vulnerable.
“When we walked on roads the traffic was a big danger – not always the most heroic danger but just walking along a road in China is probably the most dangerous thing I’ll ever do in my life!”
Leon told how at one stage they followed the completely frozen Yellow River where they ran out of food and water a couple of times – going down to half rations or less until they reached the next place.
What generally saved them in the end was coming across a remote farmer or shepherd who could put them back on the right path or give them a refill of water.
It was while reflecting on that original trip that he came up with the idea of a much more manageable official hiking route that told the story of the people and culture.
But having got beneath the skin of the culture and the people, he knew that to make the hiking route work, he’d have to win the trust of the locals who would ultimately manage and benefit from its establishment.
“China seems remote in a number of ways not just geographically but culturally and linguistically and everything else, so to spend that amount of time and move really slowly was quite a privilege,” he said.
“China has historically been quite a closed country. It’s opening up a lot now. But you still have to earn your stripes and give people a reason to trust you with a new initiative like this. That takes a lot of work but it’s very rewarding.”
Despite the world’s climate crisis grows, Leon doesn’t believe international tourists are going to change their travel habits overnight.
He believes it remains about “balance” and when people do travel, they need to adapt to travel in a more sustainable way.
It’s with this in mind that he hopes the hiking trail may attract more of the Chinese domestic market as a direct alternative to flying overseas.
Leon, who is now based between London and Northern Ireland, is also a firm backer of the educational work of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and hopes that talks like the one he’s doing in Perth can help inspire others.
“We are increasingly living in societies that make a distinction between the outdoors and the rest of our lives,” he said.
“The two should be intrinsically connected – especially as we enter this new phase of oncoming climate crisis: the need to be more sustainable and the need to have a better relationship with our planet.
“I think those of us who go out there and make these journeys need to share those stories – to build more of that understanding of the world around us.”
· Leon is speaking at The Salutation Hotel, 34 South Street, Perth on February 11. The talk begins at 7.30pm. Tickets priced £10 are available via rsgs.org. They can also be bought at the door. RSGS members receive free admission to this event.
