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A Great Wall protection team member cleans up garbage on the Badaling Great Wall on May 17, 2024. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Editor's Note:

In his response to a recent letter from residents living in Shixia village, Badaling township in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to get more people to learn about the Great Wall and engage more people in its protection in order to pass on this precious heritage to future generations.

The Great Wall is the largest cultural heritage site in China. President Xi has paid great attention to efforts to tap into its cultural value and the inheritance and protection of cultural relics along the Great Wall, issuing multiple instructions on advancing the building of a Great Wall national cultural park.

The Global Times went to Shixia village and talked to experts to learn how local residents have protected the Great Wall and the significance of carrying forward the Great Wall culture. 

Toursits enjoy themselves on the Badaling Great Wall on May 17, 2024. Photo: Li Hao/GT

On May 17, the residents in a suburban village in Beijing's Yanqing district said that they were overjoyed to receive a reply letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledging their efforts to protect the Great Wall and encouraging them to pass on this precious heritage to future generations.    

President Xi said he was pleased to learn that the villagers had taken the initiative over the years to protect the Great Wall, inherit the Great Wall culture, and rely on its resources on their way to prosperity.

The Great Wall is a representative symbol of the Chinese nation and important symbol of Chinese civilization, Xi wrote in the letter. 

"It is our common responsibility to protect and pass on this historical and cultural heritage."

Xi said he hopes that the villagers will continue to protect the Great Wall as they protect their homes, carry forward the Great Wall culture and tell stories about the Great Wall well.

Li Qinghua, Party secretary of Badaling township, told the Global Times that he felt honored to receive the letter from President Xi and was greatly encouraged by his words. 

"We also feel a strong sense of ­responsibility and political mission. As the protection and inheritance of the Great Wall is a tradition of our Chinese nation. For those of us who were born and grew up at the foot of the Great Wall, it is also our ­undeniable responsibility to carry on this tradition," said Li. 

"We will remain committed to our efforts to protect the Great Wall and pass on this time-honored asset to future generations while helping more people understand the culture of the Great Wall," Li Handong, Party secretary of Shixia village, told the Global Times.

Largest cultural heritage site

From the Spring and Autumn ­Period (770BC-476BC) and the ­Warring States Period (475BC-221BC) to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), the construction of the Great Wall spanned a period of more than 2,000 years. It is the largest and most expansive historical and cultural heritage site in China.

"The Great Wall not only served a military defensive role in history but also played a part in ethnic integration and cultural exchanges," Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

"It can be said that the Great Wall is both a cultural symbol of the Chinese nation and concrete manifestation of thousands of years of traditional Chinese culture. So no effort in its protection or promotion is too much," Sun said. 

Protecting, inheriting and managing cultural relics and heritage, and ensuring the continuity of Chinese culture and the everlasting vitality of the Chinese nation are significant components of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.

In April, an article by Xi on preserving and passing on cultural heritage and carrying forward fine traditional Chinese culture was published in the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The article lauds Chinese civilization for its long and continuous history that stretches back to antiquity, saying that it has shaped the great Chinese nation.

Cultural relics and cultural heritage, in particular, carry inherent features of the nation, says the article, which calls them China's "nonrenewable and irreplaceable" cultural resources.

The article says that it is imperative to comprehensively improve the protection and utilization of cultural relics and better preserve and carry forward cultural heritage.

The construction of the Great Wall national cultural park and exploring effective mechanisms for the protection and inheritance of the Great Wall not only effectively develops cultural relics and resources but also helps strengthen the bonds of the Chinese national community consciousness, Sun noted.

In 2021, a dedicated plan outlining the construction of a Great Wall national cultural park was announced, with the building of the relevant parks and infrastructure to be completed by 2035 alongside a comprehensive system for their preservation and use.