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)