Browse Sections

• School league tables

Great Walk of China

Paul R Taylor
18/10/2007

A MARRIED couple are trekking almost 2,000 miles through China to encourage green efforts at the Olympic Games.

Paul Coleman and his wife Konomi Kikuchi will walk from Hong Kong to Beijing following an invitation from the Olympic Committee. They plan to arrive in the city on the eve of the games in August next year.

The trek's aim is to support China's efforts to make the Olympics as environmentally friendly as possible while encouraging London Olympic site developers to incorporate 'green' technologies.

Paul, 52, from Altrincham, is no stranger to long-distance walks. Since 1990, when he walked from Canada to South America to draw attention to deforestation, he's trekked more than 27,000 miles through 39 countries and four continents.

Along the way, he has planted trees with prime ministers, been chased by an elephant, shot at, shelled, arrested no less than 10 times and almost died of malaria in Africa.

Paul said: "By the time we reach the Olympics, I hope to have encouraged and inspired countless actions to preserve our natural environment and to have displayed exactly what one person can do, if they set out to do it. We have alternative energies and technologies already available. The only thing that is missing is the willpower.

"Through this walk, I hope to generate this willpower and motivate people to take action."

Paul, who attended Bradbury Secondary Modern School, in Hale, before joining the merchant Navy at 15, set off from Manchester on an epic 15,000-mile journey to China in 2000.  His aim was to inspire people to plant 100million trees along the way - one for every person killed in conflict in the 20th century - to raise awareness of the human and environmental cost of war.

He met and married Konomi, 41, a Japanese author who was writing about his exploits, while on his travels. Last year, the couple walked across China, Korea and Japan in an 'Earthday Friendship Walk' aimed at uniting the countries' environmental movements and to promoting peace.

They were invited to return to the mainland this year by the Beijing's Olympic committee. They will hike through the Chinese provinces of Shenzhen, Xiamen and Jiangsu.

They will sleep rough most of the way - sometimes in graveyards - where Paul says he can be sure of a peaceful night's rest!

To follow their progress visit www.earthwalker.com.