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Stephen McCarty

First, there was Action Man. Then, there was Ash Dykes.
The explorer, extreme-sports athlete, triple world-record holder and Sinophile recently spent two months filming in northern China following the Yellow River, going from “source to sea: kayaking, paragliding, rock climbing – you name it”, he says.
Before that came his expedition to the Amazon River, involving a trek of its full length and a search for its origins. And he is already planning “something similar to the Yellow River, in the Middle East, by land, air and sea … camelback, horseback, skydiving, paramotoring” for this year, he says.
But now, as Asian television audiences try to keep up with his exploits, comes a six-part series detailing his walk along the Great Wall of China, east to west, end to end.
“It was the biggest step in my adventuring career. I’d never done anything like it, with a full crew,” Dykes, 35, tells the SCMP from his London home. “It was a hell of a production.”
An excursion of any significant length along the 21,196km (13,171-mile) Great Wall, in its assorted guises, also implies a side trip into its 2,700 years of history, something that enthrals Dykes as he makes progress, but not just on foot. Hiking and scrambling are supplemented by cycling alongside numerous stretches, skiing at one of several resorts near Beijing, and even a diversion south to the Shaolin Temple for a spot of kung fu with the monks.

Whatever the wall segment, Dykes enthusiastically connects with the local people, particularly those appointed to maintain and repair the wall.
“I always tried to put myself back to when the wall was being built – the how and the why,” Dykes says. “We kind of know the why, but the how is the bigger question.”
That question is apposite as he climbs the Eagle Flies Facing Upward, an almost vertical section of the Jiankou Great Wall, north of the capital.
“How did they build that? It’s already a natural barrier, a knife-edge ridge. So impressive!” Dykes says. “Then the sketchiest bit was the little rope at the end. Was it strong enough? Would it take my weight?”

But for Dykes, perhaps the most astounding discovery was that it is possible to scuba dive on part of the wall.
Panjiakou Reservoir, in Hebei province, is where a Ming dynasty section of China’s most popular tourist attraction becomes murkily aquatic.
“One of the highlights for sure,” he says. “I had no idea you could dive the wall, swimming through tunnels and beacon towers, until we were planning the series. It can be dangerous, at 30 metres [98 feet] down, but it depends on your experience. I learned to dive in my native Wales, and the visibility is much the same.”
Arguably, Dykes has China to thank for his entire career. The series begins with a bemused 19-year-old eating a spider on a skewer.
“That was day two in Beijing,” he explains, “on my first non-family trip. Me and my friend were planning to travel for a few years, so we worked loads of different jobs to raise the pennies. But our minimal funds forced us towards Asia, where they would go furthest.
“We wanted somewhere completely different to Britain, so we thought, ‘Let’s drop ourselves in at the deep end and figure it out from there.’ And with China, there was that fascination of the total opposite.”

What Dykes calls a “catalyst for adventure” developed into cycling across Cambodia and Vietnam and “crossing illegally into Burma, where a hill tribe taught us how to survive in the jungle”. Trips to Australia, India and “back to Britain, to top up the money” culminated in two years in Thailand, where Dykes worked as a scuba diving instructor and fought in Muay Thai bouts to remain solvent.
But it was Mongolia that prompted his life’s transformational moment.
“People were travelling to Thailand from all over, but no one ever said they’d been to Mongolia,” he recalls. “I was 22, intrigued and wanted to push myself. There was a lot of naivety – but I wanted to cross Mongolia.”
In 2014, Dykes became the first person to walk solo, unsupported, across the country. Two years later, another first saw him hike the length of Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island. Then, in 2019, on “Mission Yangtze”, Dykes became the first person to walk the entire 6,437km of China’s longest – and the world’s third-longest – river.
“The initial attraction with China was that you’ve got almost every country in one,” he says. “Deserts, lakes, mountains, rivers – stunning. That’s why I can keep going back to do all these journeys – and still feel like I’ve not really seen much of it.”
The Great Wall with Ash Dykes premieres February 15 on BBC Earth (Now TV channel 220)


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Explore the Great Wall on foot, bike and underwater with Ash Dykes in his new BBC show

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Dykes cycles through Zhangjiakou city’s Dajingmen Gate, in Hebei province, in a scene from The Great Wall with Ash Dykes. Photo: Bomanbridge Media 

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Explorer and athlete Ash Dykes showcases the Great Wall of China’s history and diverse landscapes in a new BBC Earth series


Explorer and athlete Ash Dykes showcases the Great Wall of China’s history and diverse landscapes in a new BBC Earth series.


China travel

Explore the Great Wall on foot, bike and underwater with Ash Dykes in his new BBC show

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Explorer and athlete Ash Dykes showcases the Great Wall of China’s history and diverse landscapes in a new BBC Earth series

Explorer and athlete Ash Dykes showcases the Great Wall of China’s history and diverse landscapes in a new BBC Earth series