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Browsing through his travel diary, Lord Michael Bates, a 55-year-old former British senior official, realized that, in the past five years, he has been to hundreds of cities on his personal vacation time to promote peace and charity.

Lord Michael Bates gives a speech at China International Publishing Group on Sept. 29. [Photo by Zhang Ruomeng / China.org.cn]

The gentleman, who has served as minister of State at the Home Office in U.K., deputy speaker of the British House of Lords and vice-chairman of the British Conservative party, resigned from his job earlier this year to fully dedicate himself to the cause.

"I am not a natural outdoors type," he said. "Those who have seen me tucking into a fry up each morning in the Portcullis House cafeteria or at the end of the day in the Bishops' Bar may question whether I am really up to the task."

"But I can only walk when I have a clear purpose, and the Olympic Truce and UNICEF will certainly keep me waddling along." According to a rough estimate, he has trekked at least 12,000 kilometers in solo walk and raised 465,000 pounds, which has mostly been used to help the children through education and sport.

Olympic Truce

From 2011 to 2012, Lord Bates walked over 4,693.1 kilometers from Olympia to London to raise awareness for the Olympic Truce, a tradition that originated in Ancient Greece that calls for the "laying down of arms" during the games.

"It is a U.N. resolution that all the countries in the world have signed," he said. "But, still, many people are not taking it seriously."

"Rather than complaining about what 193 countries that signed a truce weren't doing, why don't I turn around and show what I am doing for the Olympic Truce?" he said, explaining his motive behind the effort.

This year, he covered 3,025 kilometers in a solo walk from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro to raise awareness for the truce during the games and raise funds for UNICEF's work with Children in Danger.

Trekking through the subtropical area of Latin America is no easy task, especially for people who have never been there before.

Before he set out, friends warned him about the possibility of getting robbed or even kidnapped before reaching Buenos Aires.

"People are fearful of things they don't know, because they've never been there and they've been watching too much news," he said. Bates believes that people living in poor slums are no different to those who live in rich flats.

"If you are nice, warm and friendly, they'll respond to you in a positive way."

"He walked an average of 40 kilometers a day during that trip, and was faced with all kinds of harsh conditions, like thunderstorms, dangerous traffic and poisonous snake encounters," recalled Lady Bates, his wife. She said Bates even fainted several times due to serious dehydration.

"But he made it against all odds."

Ambassador of friendship between China and the UK

Last year, Lord Bates set out on a campaign from China's capital Beijing all the way to Hangzhou on a 1,701-kilometer "walk for peace" and raised a total of 90,000 pounds for children with disabilities.

He revealed that what touched and impressed him during the long journey most was the goodwill of Chinese people, "who would offer water and ice lollipops" to give him some relief from the summer heat.

He shared the lovely experience he had in a small village called Xinjiatun, where, according the eldest villager, no western people had ever visited.

"They treated me with the most "delicious" watermelon I've ever had that had been stored in a well with a history of 700 years, and we took photos under a 500-year-old tree," he recalled.

Wondering if they would be nervous in front of cameras, he remembered that everyone around him, including a 95-year-old man, pulled out their smart phones and began to scan the QR code of his wife, who shared the photos with them via WeChat.

"To me, this is China; on the surface, it looks as if nothing has changed," he said. "But actually, a huge amount has changed, and technology has made it possible."

During his visit to the U.K. last year, President Xi Jinping thanked Lord Bates for his contribution to peace and charity, as well as building mutual understanding between the two countries, and honored him with Icebreaker Award.

"Lots of people want world peace, but world peace starts with having better relations in your own neighborhood, better relations in your family, building friendship overseas; it begins with us," he said. "We can all be part of a solution."

He pledged to undertake walks each year and is looking to campaign for Olympic Truce for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, Tokyo 2020 Games and Beijing & Zhangjiakou 2020 Winter Games.

"We'll become the change we want to see in the world", he said, quoting from Mahatma Gandhi.

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