Man who guards the Great Wall

Xu Guohua visits a collapsed section of the Great Wall to collect unbroken bricks, which he will save to use in later maintenance of the Wall, in Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei province, on March 22, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Xu Guohua, who was born and raised at the foot of the Great Wall, calls himself a "descendant of the Great Wall" because he loves the man-made wonder of the world from the bottom of his heart.

The 62-year-old started devoting all of his time to protecting the Great Wall when he transformed from a coal mine owner to a tourism developer in 2005. For the past decade or so, Xu has donated dozens of cultural relics or historic sites that were discovered by himself to multiple museums and cultural management bureaus.

Xu also built his own 1,000-square-meter display room for the Great Wall related cultural wares, including stone artillery, stone shell, gunpowder spoon, Great Wall bricks, underglaze blue bowls, wine warming vessel, and so on.

"When I was a little child, I always felt sad when I saw someone damage the Great Wall," said Xu, "I couldn't understand why anyone would think damaging the Great Wall which had taken great efforts to build."

Xu is dedicated to not only protecting but also carrying forward the cultural content of the Great Wall. Whenever young people or foreigners visit the Great Wall, he is more than willing to serve as a tour guide. Sometimes he even conducts history class about the Great Wall for children and foreigners.