Hebei local honors generational commitment to Great Wall protection

Li Yong, a young man who was born in 1978 and inherits the responsibility of patrolling a section of the Great Wall in Baoding City, north China's Hebei Province, has honored a long-standing commitment of his family to protecting the important symbol of the Chinese civilization for nine years running.

Li lives in the vicinity of the Great Wall and has grown up listening to stories about the cultural relic.

The section of the Great Wall that Li usually patrols was built during the 1465-1487 period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has stood towering in the mountains for nearly 500 years.

During the season of frequent thunderstorms, Li would increase the patrols along the Great Wall from once a week to twice a week. In addition to his essentials -- a sickle and a garbage bag -- Li would also carry a small saw. As the Great Wall is vulnerable to rain, he would cut some dry woods, collect bricks, and use them to support the fragile arch tops of the watchtowers.

"The role of Great Wall guardians was initiated in 1988. In my memory, every village along the Great Wall had to appoint a guardian for the conservation of the ancient structure. At that time, it was purely voluntary, without any pay, so nobody was willing to do it. That's when my father stepped forward and took on the duty," said Li.

In Li's memory, his father was a taciturn man who would persist when he set his mind on something.

Although there was not much conversation between the father and son, whenever the Great Wall was mentioned, the typically reserved father would always become talkative. In Li's eyes, his father grew older day by day while patrolling the Great Wall tirelessly.

His father fell ill around the year 2010, and had since got weaker. It often took the elderly seven to eight hours to cover the whole patrol route which usually took him five hours previously.

"The Great Wall, since it's aged, so needs to be protected. When one generation grows old, our younger generations can take over the duty and continue to protect it, generation after generation," said Li.

In 2015, Li resigned from his job and returned to his hometown, Tangzigou Village, in Laiyuan County and became a Great Wall guardian.

In 2017, as the poverty alleviation policies were implemented in Laiyuan County, the villagers of Tangzigou moved collectively into newly built apartment buildings in the county town.

Nevertheless, Li's family ultimately chose to stay, being the only household in the village to stay at the foot of the Great Wall.

"With the Great Wall always in sight, it was hard to leave it. At that time, I wondered if anyone else would be willing to come and guard the Great Wall if I moved away. I felt that no one would, so I decided to stay and continue guarding the Great Wall," said Li.

Today, Li's efforts in guarding the Great Wall have garnered increasing attention.

The Wuzihao Great Wall Protection Station, built on the site of Li's old house, is the outcome of supports from the Great Wall Protection Association and enthusiasts.

This station includes a Great Wall exhibition hall comprising two rooms, showcasing not only Li's collected treasures from the Great Wall over the years but also donations from across the country.

"Now our exhibition hall hosts hundreds of cultural relics, which is unachievable by relying on just one or two people. So they have not only volunteered themselves but also urged their friends to help us build this exhibition hall," said Li.

Nowadays, most of Li's phone calls are from Great Wall enthusiasts, who mainly call to greet him and discuss the latest happenings regarding the Great Wall.

In their eyes, Li is an "amateur expert" on Great Wall artifacts. With their companionship, Li no longer feels alone in his journey of guarding the Great Wall, and he looks forward to the future with optimism.

"I hope in the future I'm able to operate drones to patrol the Great Wall. In my lifetime, I want to collect more artifacts from the Great Wall. Even if the Great Wall disappears, my artifacts will still remain," said Li.

Hebei local honors generational commitment to Great Wall protection

A special Exhibition entitled "Dialogue Among Civilizations" was recently hosted by China Media Group (CMG) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, aiming to deepen understanding among people of different cultural backgrounds from around the world.

The 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on June 7 unanimously adopted a China-proposed resolution, and designated June 10 as the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations. This event is the result of the resolution.

In introducing the draft resolution backed by more than a dozen other countries, China's permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong said the world is at an inflection point, noting dialogue among civilizations is imperative.

"In today's crisis ridden world with all kinds of threats to peace and development, we need more than ever to leverage the role of inter-civilization dialogue," said Fu.

"I think the fact that a media organization is hosting this gathering is extremely appropriate. Journalists and media workers have a pivotal role to play in building these much needed cross cultural understandings and conversations," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

"Armenia is honored to be among the core sponsors of the resolution initiated by China, designating a specific day dedicated to dialogue among civilizations. And we highly appreciate the constructive approach in addressing global challenges and advancing shared goals," said Mher Margaryan, Armenia's permanent representative to the UN.

Guests who gathered were treated to a celebration of cultural diversity, highlighted by an array of music from talented artists, including American trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

"One of the highest arts is conversation, the ability to talk about other people's histories and traditions and to be able to empathize with another's position, even if you don't agree to be able to sit with the discipline to hear what someone else is telling you. And music teaches all of these things," said Marsalis, who is a nine-time Grammy Award-Winning Musician and composer.

Also featured was a variety of creative artworks, even a "harmonic heritage" themed global fashion show, featuring sustainable designs from nations as divergent as China, Egypt and India.

Many of the attendees and artists said the evening provided them with a sense of renewed hope that a less divisive world is possible.

Diego Pary Rodriguez, Bolivia's permanent representative to the UN said Bolivia and China have a big heritage.

"This is very important for dialogue, for strengthened relations, and for make better the life of the people in our countries," said Rodriguez.

"Cuba has been in part of this effort support together with some other countries. And obviously, China is leading that effort, and we are very happy to be part of that as part of the core group that was instrumental in pushing for the recognition of the International Day for the dialogue among civilizations," said Yuri Gala, Cuba's deputy permanent representative to the UN.

"Right now there's so much friction between countries and nations, and I think that art can bridge that friction and make people look at each other again as the same, you know, having human experience is very, very important," said Roberto Juarez, a visual artist.

Officials, artists have exchanges on civilizations at China-hosted exhibition