Guardians bring cultural relics closer to general public

Guo Zhongxing, in his 50s, is a guardian of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. He was hosting a live-streaming session to present the beautiful scenery of the Great Wall to viewers.

Guo Zhongxing hosts a live-streaming show on the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. (Photo courtesy of Guo Zhongxing)

Located in Luanping county of Chengde city, north China's Hebei Province, the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall boasts of magnificent scenery and preserves many defense walls. In 2019, the Great Wall National Cultural Park started renovating, and the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall was made a key part under the project.

Guo, head of the cultural relics protection center at the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, has been working there for 25 years. In over a year, he has been holding one live-streaming session almost every day to help his more than 320,000 followers better appreciate the beauty of the Great Wall. In April 2020, Guo opened an account on a short-video platform and started to post videos of the Great Wall on it.

After watching Guo's videos, many people came to visit the Jinshanling section.

Guo Zhongxing hosts a live-streaming show on the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. (Photo courtesy of Guo Zhongxing)

In recent years, more and more grassroots guardians are making innovative efforts to protect cultural relics.

Huang Zijue, 35, is director of the cultural relics and tourism management office at the ruins site of the Zhongshan Principality, which was a kingdom of the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), in Pingshan county, Hebei Province.

He has led an effort to create cultural and creative products inspired by characters of the Zhongshan Principality and artifacts unearthed from the tomb of the King of the Zhongshan Principality. The products, sold on e-commerce platforms and live-streaming sessions, have won the hearts of Chinese consumers. They've also reached consumers in Japan, South Korea and France.

Huang Zijue carves inscriptions on a cultural and creative product. (Photo courtesy of Huang Zijue)

Huang believes that the cultural relic resources of the Zhongshan Principality should be exploited to help people understand the ancient kingdom. Thanks to the efforts of Huang and his colleagues, the exhibition hall for displaying cultural relics of the ancient kingdom has been renovated, the ruins site of the Zhongshan Principality is able to better accommodate tourists, and a series of cultural and creative products have been rolled out.