Eighteen-year-old Li Donglin dedicated his summer vacation to volunteering with a national heritage survey team, helping document cultural relics in his northern Chinese hometown.

In June, Li, who is a student at the Zhongjie Vocational and Technical School in Huanghua City, north China's Hebei Province, signed up to volunteer as soon as he heard about local recruitment for the fourth national cultural heritage survey.

With his extensive knowledge of local history, customs and cultural relics, Li became the youngest member of the survey team, assisting with field investigation, survey, verification and collection work involving cultural artifacts.

Huanghua has an abundance of historical and cultural artifacts, most notably in Haifengzhen, a key port that dates back to the Jin and Yuan dynasties (1115-1368) on the northern section of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. The city's rich local heritage provided an ideal backdrop for the survey.

"Surveying cultural relics is meticulous work," Li said. "One of the most important tasks is measuring the sites. We walked over 30,000 steps each day and spent hours measuring each site."

"Even though it is exhausting, it feels rewarding," he added.

Li's passion for cultural relics began in childhood. His mother remembers how he used to collect pieces of bricks, tiles and terracotta whenever he explored the village, and how he immersed himself in archaeology through TV programs, books and museums.

"Cultural relics represent the lifeblood of the Chinese nation. It is meaningful that we inherit, protect and utilize these treasures, passing on the wisdom of our ancestors with expert knowledge and showcasing them to the world," he said.

As he grew up, Li's collection of fragments grew as well. In 2022, he donated nearly 100 items to the nearby Huanghua Museum.

"These objects can only be properly protected in a museum. I collect them not for myself but to maximize their value," Li said.

"Li's donation has been of great significance to local historical research as the items date back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC)," said Zhang Baogang, curator of Huanghua Museum.

In addition to his collecting, Li has also dedicated himself to the restoration of cultural relics. Since he was 14 years old, he has restored dozens of artifacts, which he considers his proudest achievement.

After practicing with materials like sand, soil, silly putty and plaster, Li developed his own approach to restoration. He honed his skills by consulting resources, attending lectures and learning from senior restorers.

He considers Fan Jinshi, an esteemed archaeologist known for her lifelong dedication to the protection of Buddhist grottoes and murals in northwest China's Dunhuang, to be his role model.

With heritage survey experience now under his belt, Li aspires to study archaeology at university. "The protection of cultural relics needs to be continued by each generation," he said.

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