Jim Spear,fluent in China and educated at the University of Califonia,Berkeley,spent nearly 20 years doing business in China prior to moving full-time to his vacation house at Mutianyu Great Wall in 2005.He expanded and upgraded the home,tuming it into a year-round retreat.Spear'spassion for designing and building country houses from around the world as well as a variety of urban residential and commercial projects.His projects have been featured in many Chinese and intemational publications.

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When the mayor of his village asked him to help the local community,Spear and his wife Liang Tang and their friends Julie Upton-Wang and Peiming Wang founded The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu,a sustainable tourism enterprise which has grown to rental homes dispered across two villages,and n inn&retreat center created from a repur-posed glazed tile factory.The Schoolhuse was selected as the top tourism enterprise in Beijing 's scenic Huairiot District in 20 and previously earned the prestigious HICAP Sustainable Communities Award.