The team has organized volunteers and visitors to collect garbage and plant trees along the wall. But to their surprise, most damage comes from people living nearby.

"Locals often thought the 'Great Wall' only refers to the famous Badaling Great Wall in northern Beijing," said Zhang. "They didn't believe that the wall passed by their villages."

In 2004, the team walked into a hilly village in Hebei Province, where children were found tearing down the wall to grab the scorpions inside.

"We can't be the savior of the Great Wall," said Zhang, who realized that the local people must be involved in the protection of the Great Wall.

They organized a campaign, "Home alongside the Great Wall," inviting local people to take photos in front of the Great Wall, and told them that the man-made wonder was not far from their everyday lives.

They also called for web users and friends to donate books and toys to rural schools, where they volunteered to give lessons on the Great Wall to students.

"We have donated to 13 rural schools along the Wall in several provinces," said "Qianli," the organizer of the campaign.

"Qianli" said the volunteers have made friendships with villagers, giving them deeper knowledge of the Great Wall than a pass-by traveler would be able to get.

Many team members have gotten to know the stories and folktales along the Great Wall by talking with villagers.

"As a man-made structure, the Great Wall will probably disappear one day. We hope what we did could delay that as long as possible," said Zhang.