This is a press release written by Fintan Lambe at GOAL, with a couple of small amendments by me.

Twenty-seven year old Paddy Carroll from Dublin, Ireland, is about to undertake an ambitious charity cycle through rural China.

Paddy hopes to raise £10,000 for charity by spending two months cycling through mountainous terrain in China. He will cycle 5000 kms alone with his tent and provisions strapped to his bicycle.

China is one of the more unusual destinations that people would consider for a holiday but Paddy is looking forward to the experience. "I’ve been planning this trip for a while," he says. "I wanted to do something challenging and out of the ordinary. Hopefully people will donate money to make it worthwhile".

Paddy’s chosen charity is the relief and development agency GOAL, and he hopes to raise funds for its street children’s projects in Africa and India. He has already earned enough money to cover the expenses of his trip, so every penny donated by the public will go directly to GOAL’s street children’s programmes.

Paddy will cycle through Xinjiang province in north-western China, and along the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau in central China. One of his biggest fears is the climate in certain areas, where there can be huge differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures. "There’s a saying about north-western China", says Paddy. " ‘People wear fur coats in the morning and silk at noon’. Urumqi, the capital of the province is the furthest city in the world from the sea, which means the temperatures tend to see-saw a lot".

Mongolia, which borders the province, has been suffering extremely cold temperatures for the past two years, with recent reports of temperatures of around minus 42 degrees Celsius. "I don’t want to go too late in the year either or I’ll be roasted alive during the day," he says. "Hopefully my tent and warm sleeping bag will keep frostbite at bay so I won’t return to Ireland with less fingers than I have now".

He is currently learning the basics of Mandarin Chinese. He is nothing if not ambitious. "A few weeks ago, I bought myself ‘Chinese in Three Months’ which is a book and set of tapes," says Paddy. "The course is actually quite good, and it’s interesting learning such a different and bizarre sounding language. There are some nice turns of phrase as well. For example the word for ‘immediately’ translates as ‘on horseback’ (mashang). The word for ‘university’ is ‘big learning’ (daxue) and for ‘physique’, it’s ‘fatskinny’ (pangshou)".

"Originally I wanted to cycle through central Asian countries like Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. They looked obscure enough, with tough, beautiful terrain and interesting inhabitants," he adds. "But then I found it’s too expensive to get there, and security wasn’t all that great".

Nearby on the map to these countries was north-western China. He believes there is less chance of getting attacked by bandits in the hills there, as authorities are strict on outlaws.

"From what little I know about Xinjiang province, it looks an interesting prospect. It has 25,000 foot mountains and a mixture of Chinese, Muslim and Central Asian cultures," he explains. "According to the brochures, the province also features ‘goat-wrestling on yaks back’. This is probably a version of the Afghan version of polo, in which teams of horsemen yank a goat off each other and hurl it into the goal. I think the goat is still alive when they start. I think I might decline any offers to take part".

"I really hope this trip will be worthwhile and I’m counting on the support of the public," he adds. "Across the world, millions of children live on the streets in the most destitute conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. At centres in cities such as Calcutta and Addis Ababa, GOAL programmes provide care, a place to go for shelter, health and nutritional care, education and skills training. This is fantastic work, which gives thousands of children a chance of a brighter future. Even a small amount of money makes a world of difference to these children".

An account of Paddy’s trip will appear on the internet when he returns. (It's on the internet now - click here to see it). If you wish to support Paddy Carroll’s cycle through China, you can donate directly to GOAL at PO Box 19 Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Please mention The Paddy Carroll Street Children’s Fund when making your donation.

If you're overseas, you can print out and use this form when sending a donation. Thanks a lot.