Home in the Great Wall
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Since 2005, the junior high school graduate has been gathering information about the section of the Wall and his town and hand-copying it into a manuscript of tens of thousands of characters.
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Squatting on the ancient city wall of Xiamaguan, Yang Guoxing and one of his daughters keep an eye on the wall his family has protected for two generations. |
Aside from its ancient history, the Wall also stands as witness to a glorious moment in modern times.
In the 1930s, Xiamaguan was the headquarters of a division of the Red Army, led by Xu Haidong, one of the generals who helped establish New China.
In 1936, American journalist Edgar Snow interviewed Xu in the tower house of the city gate where Yang's family now dwells. Snow recorded the interview in his diary and in his bestseller Red Star Over China (1937).
Yang says this part of history would have meant a lot to his deceased father, as the man had great respect about revolutionaries.
"The city wall has been witness to many historical happenings," Yang says. "Taking down its bricks is like wiping away those histories."
The local relic protection office has been deliberating moving the family elsewhere and giving the Wall better protection. But so far nothing has been done.
"I will stay on as long as it is like this," Yang says.
In 2008, Yang was honored with the candidacy to an award, Perosnality Who Move Ningxia.
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