CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, September 2, 2021 | 7 CHINA Volunteers make heritage protection priority Inner Mongolia team patrols sites in Alshaa desert to guard cultural relics

By YUAN HUI in Hohhot and YE ZIZHEN

Liu Bayar has developed a habit of traveling each month from his vil- lage in Alshaa Left Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to visit cultural sites in the desert. He goes by camel in summer and by car, sometimes with his family, in winter. A trip usually lasts two to three days. Whether the temperature drops to -20 C or spring sand- storms rage ferociously, Liu’s plans don’t change. His trips are not for fun. Liu patrols the area to help safeguard the cultural heritage of his home- From left: Volunteers from the Tuofeng Cultural Heritage Protection Team pose with their camels in Alshaa Left Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Two mem- town, a mission he undertook bers of the team record their findings during a routine patrol. photos provided to china daily when he joined 43 other volun- teers for the duty in 2015. Located in the western part of Based on where they live, the “Last year I came across tourists when I find beautiful rock paint- banner levels. In the past six years, Inner Mongolia, Alshaa is spread 180 volunteers are divided into eight using a metal detector to look for ings. They are precious gifts from the group has teamed up with across 80,000 square kilometers beacon towers groups and assigned to patrol dif- coins. I immediately stopped them our ancestors,” she said. police to crack rings of tomb rob- and has a population of 150,000. from the Han Dynasty (206 ferent sites and areas. Coats, spot- and reported the incident to the Sarnai patrols the sites monthly bers and has successfully curbed Though sparsely populated, the BC-AD 220) are found in Alshaa lights, climbing boots, backpacks government,” he said. to check on damage or anything out illegal oil and mineral exploration area has a rich cultural heritage, Left Banner in the Inner Mongo- and supplies are provided. “We To enhance communication, the of the ordinary, and she also works activities. including ancient tombs, struc- lia autonomous region also conducted training and gave team has a work group on WeChat, to raise awareness of cultural heri- Love of their hometown and pas- tures, temples and rock art sites. them lessons on cultural heritage where the volunteers upload pho- tage protection among residents. sion for cultural relics are both There are more than 180 beacon protection,” Li said. tos and records of their patrols, “We have to depend on local characteristics shared by the volun- towers from the Han Dynasty (206 remote deserts, we need help from The volunteers are now being and report newly discovered sites. people to protect cultural relics, to teers. In June, members were hon- BC-AD 220), 34 beacon towers volunteers,” said Li Xiaowei, an paid for their efforts. Sarnai, a 28-year-old team mem- improve their awareness about the ored as the country’s “most from the Ming Dynasty (1368- official with the cultural heritage “The work we did was unpaid at ber who majored in relic authentica- heritage protection and gain their beautiful guardians” by the Nation- 1644), 3,578 meters of ancient city administration in Alshaa. the beginning, but I started to tion and repair at Chifeng University support,” she said. al Cultural Heritage Administra- walls and more than 40 kilometers In 2015, the team of 44 volunteers, receive compensation last year, in Inner Mongolia, said she really According to Cao Jian’en, direct- tion. It was the only group to win of the Great Wall. mainly consisting of local herdsmen earning about 10,000 yuan enjoys her job overseeing beacon or of Inner Mongolia’s Cultural the title among a total of 20 individ- “To meet the requirements of and farmers from 8 sumu — or “villa- ($1,500) for the year,” Liu said. towers and one of the museums. She Heritage Administration, protec- ual recipients nationwide. cultural heritage protection work ges” in Mongolian — was formed. It Occasionally, Liu said he has occasionally stumbles on something tion efforts are now part of the and the reality that sites are scat- is known as the Tuofeng Cultural encountered potential criminal fascinating during patrols. evaluation of the performance of Contact the writers at tered across mountains and Heritage Protection Team. behavior. “Sometimes I get really excited officials at the regional, city and [email protected]

To prepare for gaokao, he stud- ied even harder from the day he Disability no bar to student obtaining started at Jilin No 1 Senior High School. “He rarely went to bed before the midnight, especially in top marks, admission to university the third year,” his father said. “To avoid creating trouble for others, he didn’t drink much water at By HAN JUNHONG in Changchun tions at local hospitals, but to little school to reduce his need to go to and ZHOU HUIYING effect. the toilet.” The young man’s health contin- In September last year, Xing Xing Yifan and his parents were I felt quite inspired ued to deteriorate. As a result of Yifan suffered a fracture to his thrilled to learn that he had been when I read the story his condition, he is unable to grow right shoulder and had to stay at admitted to Beihang University much muscle, so his skeleton suf- home to recover. with a score of 645 out of a possible of British physicist fers from a lack of support and A camera was set up in his class- 750 points in this year’s national and cosmologist, protection. room to allow him to follow les- A container truck is inspected by customs at the multimodal college entrance examination, or “He has never walked independ- sons on his computer at home. transport logistics center at SCODA in Qingdao, Shandong gaokao. Stephen Hawking. I ently and can only sit against a After three months, he returned, province. chen xinghua / for china daily It would take most high school will continue to study support,” said Xing Dacheng. and to his teachers’ surprise, had graduates great effort to score that “And every 30 minutes, he has to improved instead of falling behind high. hard at university, lie down to rest, even in the class- his classmates. But the challenge for 18-year-old and I hope I can be room.” Over the past few years, Xing Container traffic rises Xing was greater, as he was born someone like him ...” The condition has also deformed Yifan has won multiple prizes and with congenital muscular dystro- Xing Yifan’s spine and fingers, mak- is a source of inspiration to class- sharply in Qingdao phy, or CMD, a group of disorders Xing Yifan, student with CMD ing it difficult for him to write. “His mates. The young student has characterized by muscle weakness from Jilin city, Jilin province teachers and principals from pri- inspirations of his own. and problems with the eyes and mary school to senior high school “I felt quite inspired when I read By Xie Chuanjiao in Qingdao tries involved in the Belt and Road central nervous system. never refused him the opportunity the story of British physicist and [email protected] Initiative as well as SCO member Born in Jilin city, Jilin province, finally diagnosed with CMD at of education and gave us lots of cosmologist Stephen Hawking,” he states, opening up sea-rail logistics in 2003, Xing’s family were Peking University First Hospital. help,” his father added. said. A freight train loaded with 100 routes in all directions: east to delighted with his arrival and did “Although we were psychologi- Hou Suyun, head teacher at “I will continue to study hard at twenty-foot equipment contain- Japan and South Korea, west to not notice anything wrong until cally prepared, we never imagined Xing Yifan’s primary school, car- university, and I hope I can be ers, or TEUs, of cargo left from Central Asia and Europe, south to three months later. our son would grow up with such a ried him up and down stairs dur- someone like him, who changed Qingdao, Shandong province, in ASEAN countries and South Asia, “When we took him for photos condition,” Xing Dacheng said. ing the six years he spent at the the world with his knowledge.” early May, headed for Tajikistan. and north to Mongolia and Russia. at a studio, the photographer told “Furthermore, the doctor told us school. The family is now looking for- It was the first freight train to The multimodal transport logis- us our son wasn’t able to do the there was no effective form of Yang Weihong, head teacher at ward to the new university semes- leave for the Tajik capital, Dushan- tics center is home to Shandong’s same things other babies his age treatment.” Xing Yifan’s junior high school, ter, although there are still some be, from the China-SCO Local Eco- only freight container station con- could,” said Xing Dacheng, Xing When relatives and friends gave him extra care but subjected unknowns. nomic and Trade Cooperation nected to the rail network and cov- Yifan’s father. heard the news, they advised the him to the same strict academic “Due to his physical condition, Demonstration Area, or SCODA. ers an area of 48 hectares. New “He advised us to take him to the couple to have another baby, but requirements as his classmates. we’ve seldom taken him out of the The cargo included glazed tiles, facilities, including two 1,050-me- hospital for physical examination.” they were determined to pour all “I tried everything I could to city,” Xing Dacheng said. “But tires and mechanical equipment. ter-long railway lines and a 12,000- The family spent a month visit- their love and care into their son. stimulate his desire to study, hop- when Yifan starts university life in Some 330 trips have been made square-meter warehouse, were ing different hospitals in Jilin city “Yifan is an angel who came to ing to give him more confidence,” Beijing, his mother will take care of by the China-Europe Railway completed last year, raising annual and Changchun, the provincial our family,” the father said. “He Yang said. “I also hoped he would him full-time. Express freight service operated handling capacity from 540,000 to capital, but were unable to get a might have broken wings, but we discover his own sense of worth.” “We both believe it will be a new by a multimodal transport logis- 1.12 million TEUs. definitive diagnosis. will never give him up.” Yang’s methods worked. Xing beginning for our son.” tics center in SCODA between Jan- At the same time, Qingdao Cus- After the Spring Festival in Over the following years, Xing Yifan got the highest score in his uary and July. Customs data toms has introduced 10 measures 2004, the Xing couple took him to Yifan’s parents took him for reha- school for the senior high school Contact the writers at showed that this represented an to facilitate logistics, including Beijing for treatment, and he was bilitation and regular examina- entrance examinations in 2018. [email protected] increase of 66.7 percent year-on- “allowing enterprises to choose year, with transported cargo more customs clearance modes freely than doubling to 27,000 TEUs. and streamline clearance proce- With its core area in Jiaozhou, a dures”, said Zhang Kui, a Qingdao county-level city in Qingdao, SCO- Customs official. DA is China’s first demonstration Qingdao Customs coordinates area for economic and trade coop- with peers at the border crossings eration with SCO member states. of Manzhouli in the Inner Mongo- It aims to serve as a new platform lia autonomous region and Urum- for international cooperation qi in the Xinjiang Uygur under the Belt and Road Initiative, autonomous region in order to play a role in linking the East and facilitate customs clearance for West and enhance land-sea link- China-Europe freight trains. age across the continent. “As exports and imports “Great efforts have been made increase, Jiaozhou Customs, to expand freight train services,” which is under the administration said Zang Yuanqi, deputy direct- of Qingdao Customs, has opened a or of the international logistics special channel and reservation department of the SCODA service to improve the efficiency of administrative committee, add- customs clearance,” he said. ing that besides Dushanbe, Last year, China-Europe freight freight trains have also traveled trains made more than 400 trips to Rotterdam, London, Milan from SCODA, delivering 765,000 and other European cities. TEUs, up 15.9 percent and 14 per- From left: Xing Yifan shows the certificate of merit he received in class at his high school in Jilin city, Jilin province. Xing studies with a He added that trains from SCO- cent year-on-year, respectively, classmate at school. photos provided to china daily DA can reach 46 cities in 18 coun- according to official data.