Li Shixiang searches for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025.
The 49-year-old Li Shixiang lives in Haiyuan County in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, known as a “Museum of the Great Wall.” Ningxia has a total of over 1,500 km of the Great Wall built during multiple dynasties, with the most ancient section already 2,000 years old.
Born near the ruins of an ancient city, Li spent a lot of time there, playing with bronze coins and broken arrows after school. He said that the fun the cultural relics had brought him was unforgettable.
Li dropped out of a local college about 20 years ago and painted wall advertisements for a living.
When he was traveling and painting advertisements in rural areas, he noticed a lot of Great Wall sections and smoke towers that were left unrecorded and unprotected. He felt an urge to do something.
Not academically trained, Li has his own researching method. He firstly draws a scope where wall relics might exist based on related books and documents, and then searches on the satellite map.
If a promising location appears, he rides his motorbike or drives a car there immediately, with just a pen, a notebook, a tape measure, a cellphone and some food.
Most frequently, he drove all the way to one site only to find nothing. But there have also been surprises. In 2019, after five hours of driving, he found the relics of an ancient city in the desert of the neighboring Gansu Province.
“There was not a single footprint around. I was so excited that I cried and forgot my tiredness,” Li said.
He has explored almost all of the areas of the Great Wall in China — Beijing, Shaanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. He has driven over 300,000 km, taken tens of thousands of photos and his writings have filled over 300 notebooks.
Over the years, he encountered wolves, fell into icy water, and once narrowly fell from a cliff. His eyes got hurt, and his toe was snapped. But all the pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt seeing sections of the Great Wall destroyed.
Fortunately, the country has been pouring efforts into the protection of the Great Wall. He himself was also hired as a Great Wall keeper by the local government in 2016, and his work has been acknowledged by the cultural relics protection department. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
An aerial drone photo taken on May 12, 2025 shows Li Shixiang patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Li Shixiang works on field drawings at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang drives away a flock of sheep that have strayed into the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang reads an ancient book to mark a location of an ancient town at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Li Shixiang works on field drawings at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on May 12, 2025 shows Li Shixiang patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Li Shixiang investigates remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang searching for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Li Shixiang displays porcelain shards while patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang driving to the Heishan Gorge area in search of the remains of the Great Wall in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang draws sketch while searching for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Li Shixiang searches for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang driving to the Heishan Gorge area in search of the remains of the Great Wall in Zhongwei City, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
Li Shixiang uses a drone to patrol an ancient wall in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20250525/b3cc15f8a48443ec8d52e83c5bce5e6a/c.html