Reviving cultural greatness

From digital avatars to forest trails and hands-on brick-making, different sections of the Great Wall are drawing new audiences and redefining what heritage protection can mean. At Banchangyu Great Wall park, visitors can walk the same ground where Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) soldiers once stood, touch bricks fired nearly 500 years ago, and try their hand at making a Great Wall brick.

On weekends, children crowd the brick-making workshop, mixing clay and carving their names into fresh blanks, while hikers follow trails through the area's thick forests.

Each morning, one man broadcasts it all to the world. At 7 o'clock sharp, Xu Guohua, without fail, turns on his phone and begins his livestream.

Three phones are mounted in front of him, streaming live to Douyin and WeChat simultaneously. The 73-year-old wears a plain dark blue cotton jacket. His weathered face, tanned by years of outdoor work, catches the light. In his hand, he holds a small wine cup, no wider than two fingers.

"Look at this artifact from the Ming Dynasty — we dug it up in our village," he says to the camera.

Xu usually gets 1,000 to 2,000 views a day as he talks about artifacts, brick kilns and folk stories from beneath the centuries-old Banchangyu Great Wall.

"I don't really understand the internet, but I have been doing this every morning for five years," he says.

He takes pride in promoting the history and culture of the Great Wall in his birthplace.

A man from southern Guangdong province came all the way to see him after watching his broadcast, while a couple from Yunnan province traveled by train. Xu met them, showed them around, and sometimes bought them lunch.

The centerpiece of the Banchangyu site in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, is a vast collection of brick kilns.

In the early 2000s, excavations revealed brick kilns that had been buried for nearly 500 years. Archaeologists have since uncovered more than 200 kilns, turning the area into one of the country's most important Great Wall industrial heritage sites.

Bricks from nearby Great Wall sections match the dimensions of those fired in Banchangyu's kilns.

"This was where they made the bones of the wall," Xu notes.

Running several coal mines in the 1980s, Xu rose from rags to riches. The kiln discovery, along with tightening restrictions on small coal mines, prompted him to shift his focus to heritage preservation.

He then leased more than 30 square kilometers of land along the Great Wall and built a small museum beside the kilns, filling it with tablets, bricks, stone balls, and firearms he had collected from fields and farmhouses. He researched each piece, consulting ancient texts and experts to confirm their identities.

"I grew up at the foot of the Great Wall, and my family has guarded this place for generations," he says, adding that his grandmother always told him they came from the south to build the Great Wall.

Over the years, Xu and his family have built an extensive network of trails and access roads through the mountains surrounding the Great Wall.

His persistence moved his son and encouraged him to join the cause. Today, his son oversees walking trails and infrastructure throughout the park.

Additionally, his grandson returned to Banchangyu after graduating from Jimei University in Xiamen, Fujian province, in 2021, when he began working to package Banchangyu Great Wall culture into a curriculum with the support of local schools. The study programs introduce students to subjects ranging from Great Wall engineering to geology and traditional craftsmanship.

At the hands-on brick-making workshop, children can first visit the kiln ruins to hear the story of their discovery. Then they go to the workshop to mix clay, fill molds, and form brick blanks. Finally, they carve their names into the unbaked bricks.

To date, the number of partner schools has grown from three to over 30. More than 30,000 students have visited, Xu shares. Study tours now account for one-third of the park's revenue.

Xu still livestreams every morning, aiming to reach more potential visitors. Recently, he even started experimenting with an AI avatar to help explain artifacts online.

"At my age, I never imagined I'd be learning things like this," he says with a laugh.

Tales and Trails