Future generations

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to let more people know about the Great Wall and engage more people in its protection to pass on the ancestors' precious heritage to future generations in a reply letter to residents of Shixia village in Badaling township, Yanqing district, Beijing on May 14. Xi said he was pleased to learn that the villagers had taken the initiative over the years to protect the Great Wall, inherit its culture, and rely on its resources on their way to prosperity. "We will continue our efforts to let more people know about the Great Wall and engage more people in its protection to pass on our ancestors' precious heritage to future generations," said Li Handong, Party branch secretary of Shixia village. A coffee shop in Shixia village, Badaling township, Yanqing district, Beijing. (Photo/Pan Zhiwang) Liu Hongyan, a Shixia native, has been one of the first six full-time protectors of the village's Shixia Great Wall section since May 2019, inspired by her uncle Mei Jingtian, who began protecting it in 1980 by clearing rubbish and reminding tourists to be mindful. Over the years, Liu has patrolled the section at least five times per week, taking 20,000…

Yang Yongliang weaves the Jiaya Tibetan carpet in an intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall in Huangzhong district of Xining, the capital city of northwest China's Qinghai Province. ( Taste all China /Yang Qihong) Yang Yongliang, a 62-year-old inheritor of the Jiaya Tibetan carpet, concentrates on weaving the delicate traditional carpet after doing his farm work in an intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall in Huangzhong district of Xining, the capital city of northwest China's Qinghai Province. Jiaya Tibetan carpet weaving skills have been incorporated into China's national intangible cultural heritage items. The carpet is made from the wool of sheep and cattle native to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and is recognized for its meticulous weaving skills and exquisite colors. Yang started learning to make Tibetan carpets when he was just 9 years old, and has great confidence in the inheritance and preservation prospects of traditional weaving skills. "Almost every family in the village knows how to weave Jiaya Tibetan carpets. I also share my experiences with apprentices to preserve and pass down the skills to future generations," he said. For intangible cultural heritage inheritors like Yang, traditional skills are not only a lifelong career, but also a carrier of profound traditional culture,…