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Villagers of Shixia Village take turns to protect the Great Wall

Pass down the precious wealth left by our ancestors from generation to generation

In midsummer, when the vegetation is lush and green, the Great Wall winds through the rolling green hills like a giant dragon about to take off.

Shixia Village, located next to Shixia Pass in Yanqing District, Beijing, is surrounded by the Great Wall on three sides. The Great Wall on the distant mountains echoes the Great Wall element decorations that can be seen everywhere in the village, highlighting the special relationship between the village and the Great Wall.

"What are you doing in such a hurry?" Dong Yaohui asked Liu Hongyan, a young Great Wall protector, when he met her at the entrance of the village.

"I have to go up the mountain to see if there is any danger in the rain at the Great Wall." Liu Hongyan answered while sorting out his backpack, vest and other patrol equipment...

"Her uncle Mei Jingtian is an old friend of mine. He has been guarding the Great Wall on a voluntary basis for more than 40 years." Dong Yaohui told us that now, young people like Liu Hongyan have begun to take over the baton of guarding the Great Wall.

Shixiaguan Great Wall extends from Nantianmen at the junction of Beijing and Hebei in the west to the south side of Badaling Wildlife Park in the east. A patrol takes more than ten kilometers and takes five or six hours to go back and forth. The Great Wall is located at the outlet of the wind, and it is very cold in winter. You need to keep walking to keep warm. There is little shade in the summer, and your face will be sunburned.

"Protecting the Great Wall is like protecting your home." Liu Hongyan has been patrolling the Great Wall for six years, regardless of the cold or heat, rain or shine. "The Great Wall is our precious treasure, and we must protect it no matter how hard or tiring it is. My uncle is old, and it's our turn to protect him," she said.

Recently, Dong Yaohui (right), chief expert and vice president of the China Great Wall Society, interviewed our reporter in Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing. Photo by Li Dongyu, a reporter from Hebei Daily

"This is also the common voice of the villagers in Shixia Village." Dong Yaohui, who has visited Shixia Village many times, said with deep emotion that they had long turned themselves into bricks of the Great Wall and integrated their lives into the Great Wall.

On May 14 this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote back to the villagers of Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing, encouraging everyone, "It is our common responsibility to protect and pass on this historical and cultural heritage. I hope that everyone will continue to work hard and make long-term efforts to protect the Great Wall as if it were our home, promote the culture of the Great Wall, tell the story of the Great Wall well, encourage more people to understand and protect the Great Wall, pass on this precious wealth left by our ancestors from generation to generation, and contribute to building a socialist cultural power and promoting Chinese-style modernization."

"The villagers in our village wrote a letter to the General Secretary together, and I was one of them! General Secretary Xi Jinping's words warmed people's hearts and made us more determined to protect the Great Wall and pass on its culture." Mei Jingtian said that the people of Shixia Village love the Great Wall from the bottom of their hearts and take the initiative to protect it day after day.

In 2006, Shixia Village established the Great Wall Protection Association. 80% of the villagers signed up to be volunteers. Every day, they take turns to patrol the Great Wall, protect the bricks, and prevent private carving and graffiti, as well as littering.

"Our roots and souls are in the Great Wall. Although I am old now, I am still worried about the Great Wall." Today, Mei Jingtian often tells children in the village stories about the Great Wall and spreads its culture.

Recently, Dong Yaohui (right), chief expert and vice president of the China Great Wall Society, interviewed our reporter in Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing. Photo by Li Dongyu, a reporter from Hebei Daily

Strolling through Shixia Village, you will see a landscape corridor built along the north-south main street, with grape vines, stone walls, walnut trees, an old winery...an ancient style and a relaxing pastoral scenery.

"Coming to Shixia Village to relax and have fun always makes people feel comfortable and at ease." Chen Qing, a Beijing citizen who lives in the "Shiguang Great Wall" B&B, enjoys listening to the rain, looking at the mountains, appreciating the flowers and the Great Wall. She said that she comes here to "recharge" almost every weekend, and she will be full of energy when she returns to the workplace.

You can see the mountains and water, and remember your homesickness. Shixia Village has become the dream hometown of many city dwellers, attracting them and increasing the income of the villagers.

"Shixia Village has become so beautiful! The villagers are living a good life," Dong Yaohui praised. "This is because they protect the Great Wall as if it were their own home."

When we met Wang Xiuhua, a villager in her 60s, she was directing tourists to park properly. "In addition, I am also responsible for maintaining street hygiene. I can earn more than 2,000 yuan a month without having to go out to work!" She told us, "The Great Wall has brought us so much happiness! The good days we longed for are now in front of us, and I have to work hard!"

"There are many villagers like Wang Xiuhua in the village. Some of them work in homestays, some clean the village and take care of flowers and plants, and some serve as tour guides, telling tourists about the nearby Great Wall forts..." Liu Yongqiang, the first secretary of Shixia Village, said that relying on the Great Wall resources, Shixia Village has built a theme homestay "symbiotic community" that integrates boutique homestays, training bases, and intangible cultural heritage experience; it also continues to build agricultural, cultural, tourism, leisure and vacation projects, develop a Chinese herbal medicine planting base with the theme of "tourism + health care", and continuously expand the collective economy. In 2023, the village's total economic income will reach 8.085 million yuan.

On June 29, Liu Hongyan, a Great Wall protector from Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing, recorded the patrol situation on the Great Wall. Photo by Li Dongyu, a reporter from Hebei Daily

"The villagers' good life is inseparable from the Great Wall. The next step is how to integrate the resources of multiple villages in Shixiaguangou area and play the Great Wall card well." Dong Yaohui suggested that we should borrow external brains and introduce intellectual support.

On June 30, a seminar on the "Wisdom of Universities" on rural revitalization at the foot of the Great Wall was held at the "One Brick" Great Wall Exhibition Space in Shixiaguan Valley. Tsinghua University and North China University of Technology, together with the Badaling Town Government, made suggestions for the future of "Shixiaguan Valley".

Intelligent AI, virtual reality, 3D digitalization... emerging technologies have continuously "revitalized" the ancient Great Wall in the eyes of young people. The legend of the Great Wall has become a series of traditional Chinese illustrations, and 3D design has built the "Great Wall Home" in the future countryside... Dong Yaohui looked at the college students' wonderful ideas, homestay designs, and Great Wall cultural creations and praised them endlessly.

“Will the village really become that beautiful in the future?” The villagers of Shixia Village were surprised when they saw the designs of the college students.

"Of course!" Dong Yaohui firmly believes that as long as the Great Wall is there, as long as more and more young people love and protect it, the future of Shixia Village will be better and the lives of the villagers will become more and more prosperous. (Reporters Liu Ping and Shi Xiaoduo of Hebei Daily)

On June 30, Mei Jingtian told the story of protecting the Great Wall to visiting college students at the Shixia Village History Museum in Badaling Town, Beijing. Photo by Li Dongyu, a reporter from Hebei Daily

【Great Wall Business Card】

Shixiaguan

Shixia Pass is located at the westernmost end of Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing. The cliffs on both sides of the pass are steep and high, and it is difficult to climb. The pass was built here in the Ming Dynasty. Shixia Village is a small village surrounded by the Great Wall on three sides and has a beautiful environment. The original appearance of the surrounding Great Wall is well preserved, with Great Wall relics such as Luogoucheng, Nantianmen, Yuanyang Tower, Jiangjun Tower and Lion Tower.