Walking along the Great Wall is a once-in-a-lifetime dream for many, but Jim Spear has taken it one step (far), spending the last 18 years living in a village beneath the ancient wonder.
68-year-old, a self-taught architect from the US, made the most important decision of his life to move to China in 1986, a year before the Great Wall (list) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, Spear calls Mutianyu village home. In this quiet place, (locate) at the foot of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, he lives with his dog in a home with a courtyard garden he tended (he).
As an architect, not only did Spear renovate (翻新) his own dream house, comes with multiple views of the Great Wall, but he also explored ways to boost the local business and support rural residents. Over the years, the architect (help) renovate around 20 households in Mutianyu, most of which now operate hotels or restaurants, while (do) his best to preserve the original structures as much as possible.
In (recognize) of his contributions, Spear was given the Great Wall Friendship Award in 2014.
