Meet China's "most beautiful" Great Wall protector

In 2015, Li Yong gave up a high-paying job and took on the responsibility of protecting the Great Wall’s bricks. The young man has been dedicated to this solemn task ever since.

Li Yong counts the Great Wall bricks collected from a demolition site. (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)

"If a worker digs a site directly with an excavator, he may break the Great Wall bricks, so I have to keep an eye on where there are bricks. When there is a Great Wall brick, I will tell the excavator operator to stop, and then I will go and pick it up," said Li, who is currently working on salvaging the Great Wall bricks used in village houses in Tu'an village, Yanmeidong township, Laiyuan county, north China's Hebei province.

But why are bricks originally used for building the Great Wall appearing in the surrounding villages and becoming wall bricks in residents' houses? Li explained that this can be traced back to the 1960s, 1970s or even earlier when some villagers in the vicinity of the Great Wall lacked building materials, and as a result removed Great Wall bricks and used them in construction.

Thanks to the poverty alleviation policy, plans are in the works for these villagers to be relocated to the county seat. After their relocation, the village houses where they used to live will be demolished and reclaimed, and the Great Wall bricks can then be re-collected, explained Li.

Thanks to Li's efforts as well as the construction team, many Great Wall bricks in Laiyuan county that could have been buried by dust or damaged by machines have been salvaged.

Over the past few years, Li has collected more than 500 Great Wall bricks from demolition sites in 37 natural villages in Tu'an village, Yanmeidong township. What's more, inspired by Li, many villagers have voluntarily donated their Great Wall bricks, eaves tiles and other objects.

Li Yong hopes to make full use of the bricks removed by the villagers in the renovation of the Great Wall. "The Great Wall bricks are priceless to me, but if the government needs them, I will donate the collected bricks without hesitation," Li declared.

"I hope the bricks of the Great Wall can be used to repair the nearby Wulonggou Great Wall," added the awardee of the title "the most beautiful safety guardian of cultural relics" in 2020.