Shanghai Daily news

Wei Denming has been working for 28 years to preserve the historical and cultural relics of Minhang District. Last year Wei retired from his position as head of the Minhang District Cultural Center, however that hasn't stopped the Minhang local from striving to preserve the cultural relics of the district.
Wei was born in Qibao Town, Minhang District, in 1948 and it was there that he first developed his passion for the archaic structures of old China.
Qibao Town obviously had enough old bridges and houses to keep the young Wei interested and they must have left quite an impression on him. In 1976, after graduating from the Chinese Language Department of Fudan University, Wei took a job in the Shanghai Cultural center, further maturing his appreciation of historical relics.
Wei concedes that the preservation of historical artifacts is an ultimately thankless job, however he still remains enthused when it comes to the task. "In my opinion, it (preservation) is very important and it is significant for future generations,"Wei said.
Wei devoted a large part of his spare time to studying history and historical relics when he worked at the Shanghai Culture Center. By the end of his 24 years there, Wei had personally restored 11 historical relics.
Perhaps Wei's biggest project was the restoration of Zourong's tomb in Huajin Town, in Xuhui District.
Zourong, a major figure in the 1911 overthrow of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is seen as a national hero and patriot so the job was by no means a small one.
Wei supervised the entire project. And before long, the project had become a monumental task. The tomb, originally being made of stone, required a quarry of similar stone for restoration. This resulted in each stone needed being brought especially from Wenling in Zhejiang Province. The project took Wei nine months, this was also a rushed job due to the desire to re-open the tomb on the 80th anniversary of the 1911 revolution.
Wei eventually left the Shanghai Culture Center for the culture center in his home district. He worked at the Minhang Culture Center for two years, doing similar restoration and preservation projects.
However, at that time, he was also taking a further interest in protection of cultural and historical buildings which he has continued doing till this day.
"Some of my friends suggested I get into real estate because it was a good way to earn money at the beginning of 1990s. But I refused. I'm not interested in it. Though most of them now run their own companies, I have no regrets at all," he said with smile.
Wei enjoys his work and plans to look after cultural relics for a long time to come. One thing that does dampen his enjoyment though is the lack of care for ancient structures in China.
However, Wei prevails, simply seeing it as his responsibility to protect the relics and mold people's opinion so they are able to see the importance and beauty of these archaic pieces of art.
"I would like to write some articles about protecting these relics soon and publish them in a newspaper or books in order to let people, especially the younger generation, have an understanding of the significance of the relics," he added.
Wei claims he never retired and plans to continue his protection efforts until he can no longer walk.