My home is at the foot of the Great Wall
"The Great Wall is a representative symbol of the Chinese nation and an important symbol of Chinese civilization. It embodies the Chinese nation's unremitting spirit of struggle and the patriotic sentiment of unity and perseverance." On May 14 this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote back to the villagers of Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing, profoundly explaining the unique value of the Great Wall and encouraging everyone to "pass on this precious wealth left by our ancestors from generation to generation." The children of the Great Wall living here also use their own practices to play a concerto of protection and inheritance and rural revitalization.
Love for the Great Wall
Following the mountain road at the foot of the Badaling Great Wall all the way south, after several turns, we arrived at Shixia Village surrounded by green mountains. The important content of General Secretary Xi Jinping's reply was scrolled on the display screen at the entrance of the village.
"I am very happy to learn that the General Secretary has written back to us. This is the greatest encouragement to us, the Great Wall protectors in Shixia Village." On a bench in the village, the 80-year-old Mei Jingtian talked freely.
At the foot of the Badaling Ancient Great Wall and the Shixiaguan Great Wall, Shixia Village is surrounded by the Great Wall on three sides. The shapes of the brick walls of the Great Wall in the village tell the world that this place used to be a barracks city. Shixia Village is also named because of the steep cliffs at the entrance of the village. Not far from the village is the ancient military fortress-Shixiaguan, which is the last pass in the northwest direction of Beijing. There are still ruins such as Luogoucheng, Nantianmen, Yuanyang Tower, Jiangjun Tower, and Lion Tower.
Such a geographical location determines the inextricable connection between the village and the Great Wall.
The time goes back to the 1980s. Due to multiple factors such as natural and human factors, many sections of the Shixiaguan Great Wall cracked, the walls were broken, and garbage was everywhere. Villagers even dismantled the bricks and took them home to build houses.
"These are all places where I played in my childhood. It's painful to see the Great Wall destroyed. The heritage left by our ancestors cannot be destroyed in our hands!" So, the villagers of Shixia Village spontaneously organized themselves to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Great Wall, and Mei Jingtian was one of them.
Holding a wooden stick, carrying a backpack and a sickle. Mei Jingtian, an ordinary farmer, has been guarding the Great Wall, cutting weeds and removing shrubs for more than 40 years. When he saw someone privately carving or removing bricks without authorization, he immediately stepped forward to stop them. In early 2000, the Shixia Village Great Wall Volunteer Association led by Mei Jingtian came into being and became the first farmer organization in Beijing to protect the Great Wall.
To this day, Mei Jingtian, who should have been enjoying his retirement, still habitually walks and takes a look at the Great Wall.
Mei Jingtian's deeds have affected three generations of this family and the entire village. In a village of more than 100 people, 80% of the villagers have participated in the protection of the Great Wall. "In the past, the Great Wall protected us, and now we protect the Great Wall."
In 2019, Mei Jingtian's niece Liu Hongyan passed the exam, took over the mantle, and became one of the first batch of Great Wall protectors in Beijing.
"Hongyan, are you going up the mountain today?"
"Yes, let's go!"
Liu Hongyan put on a bright orange vest and a backpack swiftly, and walked towards the mountain.
From Liu Hongyan's home, it takes 5 minutes to walk to the foot of the mountain. Along the narrow and steep mountain road, full of gravel and sand, one foot deep and one foot shallow, the narrowest place can only accommodate one person. When encountering a steep slope, ordinary people need to walk carefully, but Liu Hongyan went up like a gust of wind.
"Are there any tips for climbing mountains?"
"Like a duck walking, the middle is slippery and the sides are solid."
For Liu Hongyan, the Great Wall is home, a thought that he cannot let go of.
As the altitude gradually rises, the whole picture of the village gradually comes into view. "You can see your home on the Great Wall, and you can see the Great Wall when you look up at home."
After walking through the woods for more than half an hour, the shade of the trees on both sides gradually disappeared, and the majestic ancient Great Wall stretched out in front of us. The Great Wall meanders on the ridge, leaving only Liu Hongyan's back. At that moment, a sense of vicissitudes arises spontaneously.
"Look at the cracks in this brick, I have to record it." Liu Hongyan, who walks tens of thousands of steps on the Great Wall every day, has long been clear about the condition of each section of the wall. The wind outlet in the valley is strong, and the wall bricks will crack after years of wind and rain. Liu Hongyan carefully observes, shoots, records, uploads, and reports. While inspecting the enemy tower, a discarded plastic bag floated on the ground, and Liu Hongyan picked it up.
Patrol and monitor dangerous situations, dissuade tourists from climbing, the work of the Great Wall protector is hard and lonely. But Liu Hongyan feels that her efforts are worth it.
"The Great Wall is long, and Shixia is prosperous. The Great Wall protects us, and we must protect it even more." Liu Hongyan said while pointing down the mountain. Following the direction of her finger, a red-roofed house in the green valley is her home.
Shixia is prosperous
"Serve the food!" The gong sounded, and the food came on stage.
At mealtime, the Shixia Castle Inn, located in the core area of Shixia Village, became lively, with diners coming and going in an endless stream. The various delicacies here are all "lifted" to the table by sedan chairs. In particular, the intangible cultural heritage dish "He's Braised Pig Face" is very popular. According to the local way of eating, a piece of pork cheek is picked up with a fire spoon, served with cucumber and shallot, which melts in the mouth and is amazing.
This is also the beginning of the commercial development of Shixia Village.
In 2014, He Yuling, with her love for the Great Wall culture, locked on 18 courtyards in Shixia Village: she invited designers to adapt to local conditions and use local materials to integrate traditional Great Wall elements into every stone and tile in the village. At that time, Shixia Village was still unknown. The villagers made a living by farming all year round, and they were quite puzzled by He Yuling's behavior. "What's the point of spending a lot of money to rent a shabby house?"
He Yuling responded to the villagers with actions. The courtyards rented one after another were transformed into homestays with different themes. The brand of "Shiguang Great Wall Boutique Homestay" was established. She integrated her own cooking skills into the traditional stone cooking banquet in the village, creating a major food feature of Shixia Village.
"With the Great Wall left by our ancestors, we have our golden signboard today. With the empowerment of the Great Wall cultural resources, the homestay industry can develop in the long run." He Yuling said that the Great Wall is the answer.
After noon, there are still many diners who are full and satisfied taking a rest in the yard. Lower your head to enjoy the feast, and look up to see the Great Wall. How can the business not be popular when first-time guests become repeat customers?
Nowadays, the village not only has inns, but also cafes, bookstores, village history museums, open-air cinemas, intangible cultural heritage handmade experience halls, etc. Driven by the Shiguang Great Wall boutique homestay, people who went out to work returned to the village and became homestay operators and winemakers. Tourists sitting in the cafe tasting cappuccino, how could they have thought that they were in the broken sheepfold they used to be!
With the mind opened, there are more things to do. There are far more people in the village who "benefit from the light" than just the homestay owners, but also the restaurants and retail stores in the village, and the villagers who plant fruit trees. Shiguang Great Wall Boutique Homestay purchases 20,000 kilograms of fresh crabapples from Shixia Village and surrounding villages every year to make crabapple series products. During the harvest season, Shiguang Great Wall Boutique Homestay also helps sell Lipao apples and Bangshuiyu betel nuts. With more people, the fruit farmers' sales channels have also been opened up.
Build a brand and enrich the local economy. The industrial structure of Changcheng Village is very resilient, and the good times of the villagers will continue...
New vitality
Ancient wells, training grounds, kiln factories...With the efforts of several generations, the Great Wall in Shixia Village has preserved its original appearance to this day, and the ruins of Shixiayu Fort Guancheng are still preserved. As the largest existing cultural heritage in China, the Great Wall is full of the essence of humanistic architecture accumulated through history, and it has also attracted countless people to be fascinated by it and to pay for it.
In the 1960s, a young British teenager, William Lindsay, "encountered" the Great Wall of China from an atlas, and has been obsessed with it ever since. In 1986, at the age of 30, he visited the Great Wall of China for the first time. In the 38 years since then, Lindsay has explored the Great Wall, studied the Great Wall, and taken practical actions to protect the Great Wall.
The Great Wall was built brick by brick, day by day, and night by night; a journey to the Great Wall should also be approaching the end step by step and day by day. Lindsay hiked from Jiayuguan, passing through Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing... He wrote a book about his experience of exploring the Great Wall and became an advocate and practitioner of the protection of the Great Wall.
"The Great Wall is not only a Chinese story, but also a story outside the Great Wall and a global story." Lindsay said. His latest work, "The Golden Dragon", is written for children. Because children are the future of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall has inexhaustible cultural resources and inexhaustible national soul. "At dawn, the vast Cangshan Mountains are connected to the horizon, and a Great Wall winds along the ridge, like a giant's outstretched arms, embracing the large and small peaks in its arms..." In the works of many well-known writers, "the Great Wall" is a common element.
With the gradual deepening of the study of the Great Wall culture, more sealed historical memories have new ways of expression.
The characteristic tourism and cultural street located in the Badaling Great Wall Scenic Area brings together many cultural and creative shops, among which "Great Wall Gift" is the first original cultural and creative store of the Badaling Great Wall. Shop assistant Zhang Ying is busy explaining the products to tourists. Under the designer's whimsical ideas, the Great Wall bricks are transformed into archaeological blind boxes that can "dig treasures". The IP images of the "Great Wall Group" such as Ming Xiaobing, Qin Shihuang, and Zhaojun are both cute and warm, and are deeply loved by tourists.
"The Great Wall Gift cleverly combines the ancient Great Wall with the product types that young people like, and exudes another side of youth and fashion." Zhang Ying said.
Endless cultural stories and endless wonderful performances. This year, the large-scale immersive situational drama "Dream of China¡¤The Great Wall" was staged in Beijing World Expo Park. A scene of time, a dream back to a thousand years; the Badaling Great Wall at night was dazzling, and the "Tea-Horse Trade" sculpture and the "No hero without visiting the Great Wall" cultural wall have also become popular spots for tourists to check in. As one of the most popular sections of the Great Wall in Beijing and even in China, the Badaling Great Wall has long become an important window for the world to perceive Chinese civilization. The Great Wall IP is becoming more and more alive in front of people.
Good news is still coming. Beijing Yanqing proposed that it will take two years to build the Yanqing section of the "Beijing Great Wall" National Scenic Road into a first-class cultural and tourism corridor and rural industry revitalization corridor in China with a blend of scenes, and Shixia Village at the foot of the Great Wall will be built into a demonstration and representative of China's Great Wall village culture. Seizing new opportunities for cultural and tourism development, Beijing is continuously promoting the revitalization and utilization of the Great Wall cultural resources, giving the ancient Great Wall new vitality and vitality.