Five month later in 1999， dustbins were put on the Great Wall andten sign boards were erected along the paths leading to the Great Wallin Huairou District， Beijing， “Take nothing but photographs， leavenothing but footprints”。 In 2000， a project protecting an eight-kilometerstretch of the Great Wall in Huairou started. With this project，William hired six local farmers and founded a Great Wall EnvironmentStation， and set up environmental protection signs on the Great Wall.
This project was initially sponsored by Norway Haidlu Corporation，Beijing Office.
Among all environmental protection activities of beautifying theGreat Wall organized by William， the one held in September 2000 wasthe greatest both in strength and momentum. With the motif of “TreasStanding ure the Great Wall Under the World common Cultural Heritage”， morethan one hundred volunteers from 36 countries gathered at Jinshanlingto collect litters.
Among them were government officials of General Office ofChina National Cultural Relics Bureau and UNESCO Beijing Office.
All volunteers raised flags of their countries and marched on the pathsleading to the Great Wall. Many volunteers kept the bags used tocollect litters as souvenirs， on which were printed the slogan framedby William， such as “If everyone picks up garbage， the Great Wallwill be as beautiful as it was in the past.” “Who are we if we cannotcherish the Great Wall? ” “Love the Great Wall， Protect the GreatWall.” This activity had a great impact both at home and abroad.
Perhaps William didn’t expect that collecting litters would greatlyincrease his popularity in China. He enhanced his reputation “as a foreignerpicking up litters on the Great Wall” from “a foreigner trampson the Great Wall”。
Who Are We If We Cannot Cherish the Great Wall?
Almost everyone who knows the Great Wall knows the famoussaying of Mao Tse-tung “Who are we if we don’t reach the Great102 Wall?” William well used this saying and changed it into “Who are weif we cannot cherish the Great Wall”， which began to find its way deepinto the heart of the people.
After the year 2000， William became a full time worker forthe maintenance and protection of the Great Wall. In April 2001， hefounded and registered “International Friends of the Great Wall” inHong Kong with objective of assisting China to protect and preservethe ancient monument. William appointed himself as the director andWu Qi as his assistant. And William’s famous quotation， “Who are weif we cannot cherish the Great Wall”， has become the keynote of theInternational Friends of the Great Wall.
Soon after the formation of “ International Friends of the GreatWall”， William and the Beijing Administrative Bureau for CulturalRelics made a joint plea to the US-based World Monument Fund tohave the Great Wall included in the List of World’s 100 Most EndangeredSites. After some initial resistance the proposal was accepted.
Beijing Municipal framed guidelines for protection and maintenanceof the Great Wall as a world heritage site and acknowledged William’
s contribution as a key factor. Soon after， International Friends of theGreat Wall won the “Robert Wilson Heritage Protection Award” issuedby the World Cultural Heritage Foundation.
William and his colleagues labored hard to cultivate awarenessamongst outdoor activists by constant interactions， reinstalling thebroken beacon towers with technical support of experts of TsinghuaUniversity and also to conduct investigations on the content of steelused in the making of the Great Wall.
The project that gained maximum significance was “The GreatWall Re-visited”。 The inspiration of this project originated from thephotos taken by William Gerll a hundred years ago， and an old Britishwoman presenting them to William. comparing with the old photos，the new ones taken at the same place along the Great Wall showed discerniblechanges， which triggered thought process on the how best the Great Wall can be if protected from further deterioration and damage.