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Jo Lodder is a former professional jockey who competed in more than 3,000 races before a career-ending fall left him with a broken back. Decades later, after turning 50, he undertook his greatest challenge: a 60-day journey on foot from the Great Wall of China to Hong Kong.
Crossing nine provinces and averaging more than 50 km a day, Jo travelled through some of China’s most diverse landscapes from the mountains of the north, through rural villages and farmland, to the rapidly changing cities of the south. Moving at human pace gave him a rare perspective of a country often experienced through faster forms of travel, revealing the landscapes, communities and connections that exist beyond the main routes.
The journey was far from straightforward. On the sixth day, a serious injury threatened to bring the expedition to an early end, with doctors advising Jo to stop. Instead, he adapted, found a way forward and continued.
As Director of the Action Asia Foundation, Jo carried a symbolic pair of clean shoes throughout the entire journey, representing those who cannot run, while raising awareness and support for people living with disabilities and disadvantaged communities. He was joined by fellow runner John Fan, while nine students from Buddhist Fat Ho Memorial College in Tai O, Hong Kong, ran sections of the route alongside him.
Along the route, Jo experienced extraordinary kindness from the people he met from remote villages to bustling cities, gaining insight into the everyday lives, cultures and landscapes that make China such a vast and complex country.
In this event, Jo shares this remarkable expedition through film footage and photography captured during the journey.
Jonathan (Jo) Lodder is from the United Kingdom. He is a former leading professional National Hunt jockey and amateur boxer. In 2010, he moved to Hong Kong and moved into the property industry, specialising in resort property in Asia. He is now a motivational speaker and coach and non-profit consultant.
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