The Great Walk of China
Posted by SpikeFeb 11
I’ve been lucky enough to count Graham Earnshaw as one of my best friends for more than 15 years. Graham is one of those people who has packed several lifetimes of adventures and experience into one and he’s still going strong. A former Asian editor for Reuters and one of the few foreigners to be in Tiananmen Square as the tanks rolled in (you can read his account of that event here), he’s also recorded two albums and owns more businesses in Shanghai than you can shake a stick at.
Graham’s been walking across China. Every weekend he starts out from the point that he left off the week before, and in 5 years he’s covered more than 1,500 miles, which is even more impressive if you know that he’s got a physical disability that would keep most people from venturing much further than their front door. Of course he’s been writing and photographing as he goes along and I was privileged to review an early draft of his book in progress – at the time it was called “Walking West” (a title he’s now using for one of the songs on his next album).
So I’m thrilled to see that the good folks at Blacksmith Books will be published The Great Walk of China: Travels on Foot from Shanghai to Tibet, at the more than reasonable price of HK$130. (It will be released in North America at the end of the year.) You can pre-order it now from Blacksmith here or look for it in local shops at the end of February or early March. I know it will be well worth your time.



One comment
Comment by fumier on February 11, 2010 at 11:44 am
I met Graham in Shanghai many years ago, and bought one of his CDs off him in the Step Bar opposite the old Crowne Plaza hotel. (the CD was playing in the bar, I asked the bar maid who the music was by, and she called Graham up and he came right over.) I still play the CD, especially the wonderful “Talking Hong Kong” track. I also saw him and his band play at an office inauguration (“An Englishman in Shanghai”). I next saw him at a book signing (for his book) in Hong Kong (in the Mezz), about 8 years ago.
He is the only gweilo I have met who speaks Canto, Mando and Shango.