Zhang Heshan (52) has for more than 20 years gone on an
inspection tour every three days at a section of the Great Wall,
first built over 2,200 years ago and now a World Heritage site,
near his home village in north China's Hebei Province.
"My duty is to see if anyone is trying to steal bricks or doing
any damage to the wall," said Zhang, a villager from Chengziyu
Village in Funing County, Qinhuangdao City.
Zhang tells people about the importance of protecting the Great
Wall and persuades them to leave if they're found damaging
anything. "I also report what I've seen to the Funing County
cultural heritage department," he explains.
The Great Wall was first built in the Warring States Period (475
B.C.-221 B.C.). It's generally considered to start at Jiayuguan
Pass in northwestern Gansu Province and stretches for more than
6,700 kilometers to end at Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai
Bay in the east. The wall has been rebuilt many times and several
sections of it have suffered serious erosion by wind and water as
well as human destruction.
Zhang said he has been fascinated by the Great Wall since he was
a boy and has a deep love for it. "I can't bear any damage being
done to the Great Wall," said Zhang, who became a voluntary 'guard'
more than 20 years ago. The Great Wall was included on the list of
World Heritage sites in 1987.
Zhang is responsible for an approximately eight-kilometer
section of the Great Wall near his home. Sometimes he stops people
from digging for scorpions near the foundations and on other
occasions he persuades visitors not to carve characters on the wall
or leave their litter.
He was granted official Great Wall protector status by the
Funing County cultural heritage department three years ago.
Funing county boasts a 142.5 kilometer section of the Great Wall
divided into 18 parts and guarded by 18 protectors like Zhang.
Unlike other volunteers all Great Wall protectors in Funing county
are ordinary villagers living near the structure who've been
entrusted by the local cultural heritage authority.
Each protector makes more than 10 inspection tours of the wall
each month and submits ideas on how to better protect the unique
structure. Zhang said they're also responsible for publicizing
information about protecting relics among local people and keeping
an inspection log. The protectors receive an annual subsidy of 500
yuan and benefit from contingency insurance.
Qinhuangdao city, which administers Funing county, has a section
of the Great Wall nearly 400 kilometers long but only 20
professional cultural workers look after it. "Villager protectors
can play a big role in safeguarding the Great Wall," said Yan
Lefeng, head of the cultural relics management department of
Qinhuangdao City Cultural Heritage Bureau.
The State Cultural Heritage Administration plans to promote the
practice of villager protectors in all areas along the Great Wall.
Meanwhile, many localities, including Beijing and Hebei, have
drafted regulations to protect the structure.
"Everyone can contribute to protecting the Great Wall," said
Dong Yaohui, an expert and vice-chairman of the China Great Wall
Society. "The Great Wall is a very special cultural legacy. We
can't protect it properly without the help and support of the
general public," added Dong.?
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)
