Qinhuangdao, Hebei: Zhang Heshan, Watchman of the Great Wall

Zhang Heshan inspects the disability of an enemy tower in Chengziyu Great Wall on May 28.

Zhang Heshan picks up wall bricks scattered on the Chengziyu Great Wall on May 28.

Zhang Heshan inspects an enemy building in Chengziyu Great Wall on May 28.

Zhang Heshan, 61, is an ordinary farmer in Chengziyu Village, Zhaoying Town, Haigang District, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. As a descendant of the Ming Great Wall guards, Zhang Heshan has been guarding the Ming Great Wall near Chengziyu Village for 38 years since 1978. For 38 years, as a volunteer protector of the Great Wall, Zhang Heshan persuaded the shepherd to go away, scared away brick thieves, and blushed with many people in order to protect the Great Wall. He wore out more than 200 pairs of sneakers, walked more than two times around the earth, and sorted out more than 200,000 words of investigation notes and stories about the Great Wall. In 1997, he became the first farmer member of the Great Wall Society of China. As one of the protectors of the Great Wall, Zhang Heshan is responsible for inspecting the Great Wall from Dongjiakou to Pingdingyu. In 2007, Zhang Heshan was awarded as "National Outstanding Cultural relic Protector" by the State Administration of Cultural relics. In the same year, Zhang Heshan was also named "Top Ten warm-hearted people of Peasants in Hebei Province" and "Top Ten News figures who moved Hong Kong City". Photo taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Shiyao