Spear moved from the United States to Beijing 37 years ago. His 1 in China began during college when he took a class taught by a Chinese specialist. His love for China deepened when he met his wife-to-be, Tang, in 1980, and married her two years later.
In 1986, he decided to 2 his doctoral studies in Chinese politics at the University of California, Berkeley, and move to China to get to the heart of things.
He says that it was fate that led him to 3 beneath the Great Wall. In the 1990s, he and his 4 discovered their future home in Mutianyu. For nearly 10 years, the couple spent their weekends at this beautiful place before deciding to make it their 5 home in 2005.
As a（n）6 , Spear renovated （翻新） his dream house in a village near the Great Wall, which comes with multiple views of the Great Wall. Shortly after embracing full-time 7 life, Spear was approached by village head Li Lianting, who explained that Mutianyu was rapidly losing 8 and badly in need of local 9 . This motivated the architect to explore ways of 10 rural residents.
After looking into the matter, he rented an old 11 schoolhouse and turned it into a restaurant and glass art factory to make it 12 . He has helped renovate around 20 13 where villagers no longer live. He 14 them into hotels or restaurants, which brought much income to villagers. In recognition of his 15 , Spear was given the Great Wall Friendship Award by the Beijing government in 2014.
