Villagers have been picking up rubbish on the Great Wall for 6 years: they go up to the mountain nearly a hundred times a year to guard the "baby" at their doorstep
It is late autumn in the mountains in late October.
After the leaves withered, the branches were dry and bald. In a tree pit outside the city wall, a dozen plastic bottles were inconspicuously covered by leaves. Zhang Jie flipped over the city wall, peeled away the dried branches and leaves with his hands, and picked them up one by one into the garbage bag; The city brick was written with chalk, and he bent down and wiped it off with his hand.
This is the Huajiayaozi section of the Great Wall, which belongs to the wild Great Wall inaccessible outside the Badaling Scenic Area.
In 2015, the government funded the restoration of this section of the Great Wall and paved the steps up and down with some new bricks while preserving the original appearance as much as possible.
There are more tourists, and rubbish will follow.
Zhang Jie lives at the foot of the mountain, Bangshuiyu Village, Badaling Town.
There are many tourists in summer. He spends three to five days a week on the mountain, carrying garbage bags and bamboo clips, looking for rubbish along the masonry road of the Great Wall, writing down the location and clearing it into the bag when he goes down the mountain.
He can patrol in two hours, and garbage bags close to one meter high are always full.
The villagers also gradually joined Zhang Jie's team, from the first one to the current 21.
The old people in the village knew about this and rarely praised him in person, but in private, everyone often talked about it, "Zhang Jie is great and can hold on for so many years."
He is 44 years old and has been voluntarily picking up rubbish at the Great Wall for 6 years, and he goes up the mountain nearly 100 times a year.
On weekdays, Zhang Jie also likes to use his mobile phone to record the four seasons of the year, one brick and one stone.
On October 28th, Zhang Jie posted a circle of friends. In the photo, the sky was clear blue, with mountains and mountains in the distance, and the city wall winding nearby. He said, "The baby at the door of our house must be guarded."
Guarding the Great Wall at the doorstep
Zhang Jie grew up in Bangshuiyu Village since childhood.
When I was a child, going up the mountain to chop wood was a family task that the children in the same village had to undertake.
From about 10 years old, Zhang Jie had to go alone or with his friends to carry firewood on the mountain southeast of the village.
Although it is far away from home, there are many dry branches on the mountain. You don't need to cut too much. The branches picked up on the ground are enough to go home for business.
There is a section of the Great Wall on the mountain, and there is no road around. The children jumped along the ravine to the roots of the Great Wall’s outer wall and turned over the wall with bare hands. They can walk along the wall into the remaining towers and enemy platforms, and overlook several nearby villages. And farmland.
The old man in the village told him that this is the Huajiayaozi section of the Great Wall, which was built in ancient times for the defense of the city. A diamond-shaped enemy platform is really rare and the preservation is relatively complete.
This section of the Great Wall is connected to the Shixiaguan Great Wall and the Badaling Ancient Great Wall. It is the middle section of the two sections. It was built in the early Ming Dynasty from the 3rd to the 4th year of Longqing, and was repaired in the 17th year of Wanli and the 17th year of Chongzhen. It has a history of more than 400 years.
"When I was young, I was ignorant, so I played on the Great Wall until I grew up. It's like children going to amusement parks now. When I grow up, I think it's amazing. Our village has the Great Wall. Then we love it more than ordinary people." Zhang Jie said.
In 2013, Zhang Jie ended his work abroad and returned to live in the village. He was close. Naturally, just like when he was a child, he had more opportunities to visit the Great Wall frequently.
After visiting a lot and looking carefully, Zhang Jie gradually discovered that there were scars on the Great Wall. Even though there were not many tourists at that time, the "something and so" on the bricks of the city and the mineral water bottle lying among the trees were particularly eye-catching.
Since that year, Zhang Jie has the habit of carrying a plastic bag with him, picking up the rubbish where he sees it, and going down the mountain.
The old city brick was written with chalk, and Zhang Jie leaned down and wiped it off. He especially liked the visit after a rainstorm, even though the soles of his feet were easy to slip at that time.
But he knew that every heavy rain would always wash away some weathered brick walls and mud down the city walls. If they were picked up as early as possible, they might be able to extend the life of the Great Wall.
Teams of 1 to 21
On October 28th, the mountain entered the fire prevention period, and tourists were restricted from entering, but some people still came here especially.
Zhang Jie walked onto the remaining tower platform and could tell at a glance that someone had pitched a tent here not long ago.
The wall tiles were moved to the open space, a small pile of three or five, enclosing an open space that was almost a circle.
These bricks have been weakened due to weathering over time.
"They used these bricks to press the corners of the tent, and they wouldn't put them back when they were used up." While speaking, Zhang Jie had already begun to lift the bricks and place them on the soil wall.
Two pieces at a time, he carefully stacked the bricks together, placed them in a suitable position on the city wall, and shook them with his hands to check if they were safe.
"Look at it, you will inevitably bump into it when you move around."
Almost all the bricks have leftover corners. Zhang Jie feels distressed. He hopes that more people will understand the Great Wall and love its beauty, but he also hopes that tourists can love the Great Wall as much as he does and treat these bricks as treasures.
People in the village did not have this consciousness before.
Zhang Jie still remembers that some people thought it was rare in childhood, so they picked these scattered bricks home. They never thought that this is part of the cultural relics, let alone protect it.
In 2015, the government funded the restoration of this section of the Great Wall and paved the steps up and down with some new bricks while preserving the original appearance as much as possible. Since then, there have been more and more tourists.
There are more tourists, and rubbish has doubled.
Zhang Jie couldn't pick it up by himself, thinking that he should bring more people to do this together.
"How do you open your mouth? No one gives money, it is pure obligation, but also requires long-term persistence. Who will?"
He started deliberately dragging his friends from the village to the Great Wall to play.
Walking on the small road paved with masonry, Zhang Jie took a bamboo tweezers and picked up the garbage into the plastic bag. After a circle, the one-meter-high garbage bag was almost full.
"This Great Wall is in our village. We often come and outsiders also come. We have to take good care of it ourselves before it can get better." After talking to his friends, he continued to strike while the iron was hot. "I usually pick it up by myself, so much at a time. Sometimes you can’t finish picking them up. Come here when you have time to exercise and the Great Wall will be clean.”
This is simple and reasonable. The partners felt that it was not difficult, so they joined Zhang Jie's volunteer team to clean up the Great Wall garbage.
Li Juan is also one of them.
She was married to Bangshuiyu Village from Hubei 20 years ago. The previous impression of the Great Wall is in the textbooks-magnificent and magnificent, a dragon winding across the land of China.
Even if she later married to Bangshuiyu, she still felt novel.
After Zhang Jie made suggestions for picking up garbage, Li Juan realized, "To take care of this place, we must start with ourselves."
At the beginning, Li Juan could not keep up with her physical strength. The last stage was completed by men with good physical strength.
But now, at the Huajiayao section of the Great Wall with a straight line distance of more than one kilometer and a maximum slope of more than 45 degrees, the 48-year-old Li Juan can do the same thing as Zhang Jie in two hours.
After Li Juan, more villagers joined Zhang Jie's team.
Up to now, there are 21 people in the WeChat group he formed, ranging in age from 35 to 50.
There are many tourists in summer, and everyone has to go to the Great Wall more than 3 times a week. As soon as Zhang Jie greets in the group, six or seven people go out in a group.
Insist on doing your own thing
A frequent visitor had met Zhang Jie several times, thinking that he was a cleaner hired from the town. Only when he chatted did he realize that he was obliged to pick up rubbish and gave him his thumb.
Zhang Jie discovered that there were still some tourists who were playing around with a circumspect mentality, feeling that someone was cleaning, so they threw out the rubbish comfortably.
In June of this year, a bus drove more than 30 tourists. A group of people went up to the tower platform to rest. When they left, they threw all the mineral water they carried on the platform. Most of the bottles contained more than half a bottle of water.
Zhang Jie ran to the parking lot under the mountain to stop the bus, and reasoned with the driver.
"You brought people here, you let them get out of the car and take the garbage away." It was about the first time the driver encountered such a "cleaner". He was reluctant to communicate with the tourists in the car. He thought that Zhang Jie was nosy, and the two sides fell into trouble. dispute.
Zhang Jie refused, "If you want to come here to play, you have to take care of it."
The tour guide who led the team finally apologized to Zhang Jie and climbed to the Great Wall to collect the discarded water bottles.
On the way to picking up rubbish, Zhang Jie also took the safety of tourists at heart.
Zhang Jie still remembers that once he climbed a steep step and looked up and saw a puppy leaping towards him, followed by the dog owner.
During the peak tourist season, many parents brought their children to play. Zhang Jie persuaded, “You can easily scare the children when you tie up the dog. The steps here are steep and unsafe.” The other party was unhappy, and returned to him, “I’m tying up. What does not leash a dog have to do with you."
It was a good intention, but he was attacked by words from time to time. Zhang Jie felt wronged. He advised him not to care about it. There are so many tourists who insist on doing their own things if they can't ask others. This is not wrong.
But when encountering a similar situation, Zhang Jie couldn't help it when it was time to remind him and stop him.
This year, there are 4 trash cans in the parking lot at the foot of the Great Wall in Huajiayaozi section. Many tourists can consciously take rubbish down the Great Wall.
After returning home once, Zhang Jie and his lover Yang Shuli said angrily, "Why some people, obviously the trash can is empty, they would rather throw it outside than in the bucket." Yang Shuli can feel it. Since picking up trash on the Great Wall, Zhang Jie More and more love to regard the Great Wall as a treasure, and reluctant to let others disrespect and destroy it.
When Zhang Jie picks up trash, he will also hear people passing by take him as an example. He teaches children not to litter and protect the environment, which makes him feel a sense of accomplishment.
After becoming a member of the Party branch of Bangshuiyu Village, he also led all the village committee members to regularly organize everyone to go to the Great Wall to pick up rubbish.
Enjoy the joy of walking alone
There are more and more people who volunteer to pick up rubbish, and Zhang Jie still enjoys the happiness and comfort of traveling alone.
It was dark in summer. After get off work, he hurriedly ate dinner and then walked up the mountain. Usually, he walked on the climbing road that takes three or four hours to complete with everyone. He can patrol in two hours.
"There are 75 steps in front of the first tower. The two steps in front of the second tower add up to 113. In front of the top tower, there are 186 steps." He knew all of these.
Carrying a garbage bag and bamboo clip when he went up, Zhang Jie walked while looking for the garbage. After he noted the location, he cleaned it into the bag when he went down the mountain.
The young people in the village are basically working outside, and Zhang Jie’s son who is in college doesn’t have the same feeling for the Great Wall as his father, but every time he goes home from vacation, Zhang Jie will deliberately take his son to pick up the trash. He thinks this is to help the Shuiyu people. When doing things, young people should know better, "My baby at the door, you must keep it safe."
The old people in the village knew that Zhang Jie was doing this and couldn’t say anything polite, and they rarely praised him in person for how meaningful he did it. But in private, everyone often talked about it, “Zhang Jie is great and can persist for so many years. ."
When alone, he also carries a large outdoor bag, which contains rescue ropes, mineral water, biscuits, and flashlights.
In addition to picking up rubbish, he is always ready to rescue the trapped travel companions. As an old member of the Blue Sky Rescue Team, this is already his habit.
By the end of October, the mountains were already looking like late autumn. The branches were bare after the leaves were withered. In a tree pit outside the city wall, a dozen plastic bottles were covered with leaves inconspicuously. Zhang Jie flipped over the city wall and opened it with his hands. Dried branches and leaves, pick them one by one into the garbage bag.
"These are all fish that slip through the net", Zhang Jie judged that the empty bottles were stuffed into the tree pit by tourists when the trees were lush. The leaves were covered by the leaves at that time, but now they appear. Can you fool someone."
On weekdays, he also likes to use his mobile phone to take pictures of the sunrise and sunset, record the four seasons of the year, brick and stone, and then post these pictures in his circle of friends.
"Look at your circle of friends, why is this Great Wall?" a friend asked him jokingly.
Zhang Jie replied, "I just like it, I don't get bored."
Beijing News reporter Zhang Jingshu
Edit Zuo Yanyan
Proofreading Jianing