Guardian of the desert

The first thing He Guowu looks for when he is back in Dunhuang city in Gansu province is latiaozi (pulled noodles), a local staple that is hard to find at his post in the Yumen Pass.

He is not lucky today. It is 2:30 pm when he arrives and most restaurants are closing. He stops at three restaurants, gets three "nos" and finally settles in a Sichuan restaurant.

Having worked for 10 years as the head of the management office of the Yumen Pass, about two hours' drive from his home in Dunhuang, He, 58, is the longest-serving guardian on the site.

And for the first time in history, the relics at the Yumen Pass are getting a day-to-day inspection.

Over the last decade, He has been joined by a dozen more people, who come to clean, record the monitoring statistics and look after the souvenir shop, all of which are part of China's joint bid with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for UNESCO's World Heritage status for sites on the Silk Road.

"I hope this place will last longer so that future generations will be able to see them," says He, back at the site.

He walks around Yumen Pass with a slight stoop from the backache made worse by the alkaline water of the area. Every day he drives three hours to the various sites of the Yumen Pass to check if everything is in order.

He started to learn to drive at the age of 50 after he was posted at the pass by the bureau of cultural relics. On rainy days, the sandy road becomes so muddy that he often gets bogged. He leaves a shovel in the back of the vehicle just in case. As the site is open to tourists all day, he usually retires after 10 pm, when the last of the visitors leave. The only entertainment in the management station is a television.

He is more than a preserver and boss. He is also a driver, buyer and messenger. Every week, he drives to Dunhuang, taking several employees back to their homes for a monthly visit. And when he returns, the car is loaded with food to feed the staff in the desert the following week.

When the employees have an emergency back home, He has to drive them back.

"Whenever I have a problem, I just call He," says Chen Wanying, who has been working on the site for three years.

"It's very hard to get people to work here," He says. "Few young people would place their future in the desert. Even the older ones, they have to stay with their families."

He has had several opportunities to work in other places but chose to stay at the Yuman Pass. His wife Bai Ling also works at the site.

"This place needs him," says Bai. "Here, we have a bigger family. We live and work together 24 hours a day and keep each other company in the desert."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/27/2014 page25)