Award-winning protector still passionate for Great Wall

Dedicated visionary shares the culture and resources of the historical structure with photos, researches and the founding of a society, Yang Feiyue reports in Xinzhou, Shanxi province.

Yang Junfeng's eyes light up and a childlike smile spreads across his face the moment he sits down and shares his experiences of the Great Wall. Although gray hairs have sprung all over his head, the man in his 60s has a sturdy build and is full of vigor, a result of his years of outdoor excursions.

He speaks fast, sometimes even tripping over his words as if trying to cram as much information about the Great Wall as he can in a limited time to an audience during the opening ceremony in early July of a Great Wall-themed tourist program in Daixian county, Xinzhou city, Shanxi province.

"There's a watchtower that has a carved floral pattern dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and you can also find a stone tablet that bears traffic instructions," Yang says about the distinctive features of the Yanmen Pass in Xinzhou, an important point of the Great Wall that runs more than 20,000 kilometers on the northern fringes of the country, which defended Chinese empires.

Great Wall resources are scattered across 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Hebei, Beijing and Shanxi. The National Cultural Heritage Administration has identified 4,266 points and segments of the Great Wall from various dynasties in Shanxi, spanning about 1,400 kilometers.

Xinzhou has the largest distribution of the Great Wall in Shanxi, with historical records indicating that 13 of its 14 counties and districts host constructed sections.

According to recent surveys by related cultural relics departments, there are 248.8 kilometers of well-preserved sections of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall in Xinzhou, as well as 229.9 kilometers of well-preserved sections of Wall structures before the Ming, such as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534).

Having spent more than three decades trekking to almost all of the existing parts of the Wall in Xinzhou and recording precious images with his camera, Yang has come to know the historic structure like the back of his hand.

"I haven't counted how many photos I have taken because I have been continuing to record it," Yang says.

At the tourism season launch ceremony, 202 of his photos were on display, exposing visitors to the magnificence of the Yanmen Pass and the great changes surrounding it.