In November 2011, just as winter was taking hold of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, Leon McCarron and Rob Lilwall took their first steps of a 3000 mile, 6 month long expedition through the heart of China. Their goal was clear – to eventually reach the famous skyline of Hong Kong and on the way to see and learn about China; to feel how the landscape changed beneath their feet, and to engage with the country and it's people from the unique perspective of hiking and being self sufficient.

Carrying all of their gear and self-filming the journey for a 4 part National Geographic TV series, Leon and Rob set off south through the barren wastelands of the Gobi desert with temperatures dropping as low as -30C. Crossing into China they found a remote section of the Great Wall in the Northern provinces, followed the Yellow river as it snaked it's way through the loess hills, passed through the ancient city of Xi An and finally trekked over the mountains of the southern territories, through the Guilin limestone landscape and onto the waterfront of Hong Kong.

Leon has cycled around the world, pulled a heavy steel cart for 1000 miles through the Empty Quarter desert and taken part in all manner of other adventures, but he is adamant that this journey through China was the most difficult and, importantly, the most interesting of all.