'Life of its own'

A photographer has captured images of the Great Wall through rain and shine over more than a decade, report Yang Feiyue in Beijing and Sun Ruisheng in Taiyuan.

On a recent hike of the Shanyin section of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in northern China's Shanxi province, Yang Jianmin, a photographer in his 60s, showed that he could climb faster than some younger people.

Yang has taken more than 100,000 photos featuring parts of the wall along more than 20 counties and cities since 2007. He has become an expert.

"The Great Wall is a ridge of the Chinese nation, and I hope more people understand, protect and love the wall through photography," Yang says. "Shanxi is one of the provinces with a relatively wide distribution of the Great Wall, and has sections from different eras (of its building)."

The sections span from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and run more than 3,500 kilometers across more than 40 counties and districts in nine cities of Shanxi. About 1,500 km of the wall in the province is relatively well preserved.

Before his retirement in 2018, Yang worked at the Shuozhou land and resources bureau in Shanxi. His interest in photography came from his job, where he carried out geological surveys.

He says he sees the wall as an ancient structure full of vicissitudes.

"It is like an old man who had experienced many hardships, very awe-striking and impressive, and I cannot help but have an urge to take photos."