Chongqing - For 11 years, the Chongqing Cultural Relics Protection Volunteer Service Group has protected the immovable historical relics of the city through various means. Starting from 8 citizens, the volunteer group now has 30,000 enthusiasts and 1,650 registered volunteers who care for more than ten historical relics in the city.
A cultural relic can be classified as movable or immovable. Protecting movable cultural relics involves placing them in museums, cultural centers, and other specific locations and providing them with specialized personnel and equipment for proper preservation. Immovable cultural relics pose a particular challenge to protection.
Chongqing makes a list of immovable cultural relics that urgently need protection. Volunteers are recruited from residents who enjoy the traditional culture and are interested in protecting cultural relics and historic buildings. Volunteers should inspect the cultural relic sites they claim at least once a month and record the observations in words and pictures. As soon as they discover any damages, they must notify the appropriate local authorities.
Guiyuan Garden in Yuzhong District is one immovable cultural relic. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Guard the Historical Memories of Chongqing
Liu Wei, a retired teacher, is a volunteer who participated in the "heritage protection" project. Since she was born and raised in Yuzhong District, she chose the expert building of the Daxigou Power Plant as her object of protection.
The Daxigou Power Plant was the largest thermal power plant in Chongqing. As time passed and urban construction took place, the old site of the power plant was demolished, leaving only five small brick buildings standing. Liu said the grey bricks on the five expert buildings are customized with small pentagram logos.
Liu Wei looks for fire hazards during each inspection and provides residents with safety tips. Aside from cultural relics, she believes she is also guarding the memory of the mother city.
This public service project began in 2018, and more than 400 volunteers have participated in the patrol work.
Development of the Service Group
Wu Yuanbing, who used to be a real estate developer, is one of the founders of the service group. "It is more like a cultural awakening for me to transform from a real estate developer into a cultural preservation volunteer," he said.
In 1999, Wu visited the French naval barracks while developing a real estate project on Nanbin Road. "When I learned about the history of the building, I gained a deeper understanding of Chongqing's past. " he recalled, "If these relics are destroyed in the process of urbanization, where will our next generation learn about the city's history?"
Together with seven friends, Wu set up the "Chongqing Old Street QQ Group" in 2011, hoping to invite netizens to take pictures of Chongqing's cultural relics and historical buildings to leave some memories for the city. The activity made them realize that taking photographs alone is not enough. A volunteer heritage conservation team was formed.
The group's slogan is "Measuring old streets with feet, recording old scenes with pictures, and preserving old legends with words." The members upload images or phrases of the old streets and relics they encounter to their online community. They will immediately report to the cultural relics department if they find any damaged cultural relics.
After tireless efforts, the service group has more than 30,000 enthusiasts and 1,650 registered volunteers. In addition, it has helped protect more than ten cultural relics.
Old Chongqing Memory Road
In addition to conservation, Wu Yuanbing emphasized the importance of strengthening research, interpretation, and revitalization of historical relics, fostering the creative transformation of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and highlighting Chongqing's historical relics.
The volunteers compiled the images and written materials collected and published a book, "Old Chongqing Memory Road."
The book includes 450 heritage sites in eight districts and counties of the city and 39 historical and cultural exploration routes, supplemented by many photos, hand drawings, and detailed explanations of old Chongqing buildings. This book became the guidebook to Chongqing tours after publication.
To tell the real and vivid story of Chongqing, the service group organizes various volunteer activities, including themed cultural salons, lectures, heritage protection in the community, and ancient village revitalization research.
Wu Yuanbing tells the story of cultural relics. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Chongqing Cultural Relics Protection Volunteer Service Group will actively explore innovative ways to protect heritage in the future and practice the concept of "more participation, better protection."
(Tan Sirui, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)