Stewart and the Great Wall of China

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Stewart Falconer is a 29 years old Chilean doctor who decided to change his way of living seven months ago. He arrived to China after going a long way from Chile to Spain and crossing half Europe up to Russia. While in Mongolia he met a girl who helped him to obtain the visa to get to China.
Since his adventure started he has made good friends. At the hostel where he is staying in Beijing, near the Qianmen hutong, he became close to an Israeli traveler who has been going around the world for more than eight years now.

Stewart has learnt a lot from his trips, lessons and advice. When the Israeli friend continued his journey, he left for Stewart hand written instructions on how to get to Simatai by public transport. Simatai is one of the sections of the Great Wall of China that is on the northeast side of Beijing. Getting to Simatai was not that easy for Stewart. Many tried to deviate him from his way by offering shared taxi rides to other sections of the Wall that are more frequently visited by tourists. Despite this, Stewart persisted and succeeded in arriving to the place his Israeli friend had recommended.

Stewart Falconer has done what many have dreamt to do someday: he took the chance to put his life on hold, take some time to get to know other people and know himself. He had always wanted to be an architect, but he studied medicine to continue with the family tradition.
When he finished his studies, he started to work at Litueche Hospital, near Santiago (Chile), as a rural doctor in this area. He liked his job, but he wanted to travel and get to know other places. He saved during two years to accomplish this dream and as soon as he could he left everything: his house, his girlfriend, his dog. He stepped out of his bubble to wake up to the mundane and open his mind before starting to settle down.

In this moment Stewart is trying to see life happening, he is trying to be an observer and not the main character. He’s taking things in a more relaxed way so there isn’t any need to rest; living without getting stressed, without getting sick. To him present is a gift.

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This story is in English thanks to The Tangible Dream
SEASON 1
February, 2013 · Beijing · China · Great Wall
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