The local regulations to protect the 629 kilometers of the Great
Wall located in the Beijing area, which took effect on August
1, mark a significant breakthrough as they have set legal standards
for the protection of one of China's best-known symbols.
Luo Zhewen, vice-president of the China Great Wall Society and a
renowned expert on ancient architecture, said: "It's definitely a
good start. The new regulations will give a powerful legal mandate
for the protection of the Wall."
The new regulations were enacted by the Beijing municipal
government to preserve the sections of the Great Wall within the
municipality of Beijing, which were built during the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644).
Although in better condition compared with the sections in many
other provinces, the 629 kilometers worth of Great Wall in Beijing
still face unprecedented devastation, said Luo, who was in charge
of mapping out the renovation blueprints of Badaling, one section
of the Wall in northwestern Beijing, in 1952.
"There were few tourists in Badaling at that time. But now,
surrounded by crowded parking lots and dense stands, the natural
beauty of the Wall is partially infringed upon by the disorder in
tourism management," he added.
It's reassuring to know that about 200 million yuan (US$24.1
million) has been raised to relocate the parking lots and buildings
near the Wall.
"The law has clearly defined who is responsible for protecting
the Great Wall, what kinds of activities are detrimental to the
Wall and thus are forbidden, and which kinds of penalties should be
enforced," said Dong Yaohui, secretary-general of the Great Wall
Society of China.
The regulation also highlights the protection of the environment
around the Wall and the range is defined, said Dong.
There were no clear-cut legal provisions before, thus making it
difficult for conservationists like Dong and others to acquire
legal support for their protection activities, he said.
Dong and other members of the society called for legislation to
protect the historically monumental structure, after a team
consisting of 20 experts and 30 journalists finished a 45-day
investigation trip along the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall
last October. The field study was organized by the Great Wall
Society of China.
"We found that the Great Wall is crumbling, unable to withstand
natural deterioration and calamities caused by people," said Dong,
who headed the investigation team.
Cao Dawei, a professor from Beijing Normal University, said
after the trip: "Most people are law-abiding. The major problem is
that they have no idea what it takes to protect their cultural
heritage. So we need some laws to tell people what they should do,
and to stop their activities from destroying the Wall."
Over the past few years, Cao and other experts have discovered a
number of problems that are troubling. Great Wall bricks are crated
off by local rural people to build their houses, sheep corrals and
pig sties. Some parts were demolished to give way for the
construction of roads and residential buildings.
Bricks from well-known sections of the Great Wall carved with
people's names have become souvenirs. Rubbish is strewn over the
battlements.
According to Dong, unlike other cultural relics that are
geographically concentrated, the Great Wall with its massive length
can never be locked away or supervised by only one administrative
unit. Therefore, local governments at both the county and township
levels bear a heavy and important responsibility to protect it.
The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt
by different dynasties over the past 2,000 years. Construction
began in the reign of China's first emperor, Ying Zheng of the Qin
Dynasty (221-206 BC), and lasted into the Ming Dynasty.
The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared.
The Ming sections, which spiral about 6,300 kilometers from
northeastern to northwestern China, comprise what is typically
considered the Great Wall by common people.
Dong said there were about 30 kilometers of Great Wall in
Beijing that had been exploited as tourist destinations. The new
local regulations focus specifically on protecting the wilderness
parts of nearly 600 kilometers worth of the Great Wall.
"Those which have been used as tourism destinations, like
Badaling and Simatai, are being protected in some level because at
least no one will remove their bricks. The provision they should
pay more attention to is 'to keep it as it looks during the
renovations.'
"But those which are not formal tourism spots need better
management with the help of the law, such as Huanghuacheng and
Jiankou. Over 20,000 people climb the Huanghuacheng part every year
along its ruined path. More footsteps there will only add more
damage," Dong said.
"The legislation signals a good start for enhancing the efforts
to protect the Wall, but people must follow the rules and the
regulations must be effectively enforced."
Dong also noted that the local Beijing rules only apply to those
sections within the municipality. Most segments of the Great Wall
are located in mountainous areas in other parts of the country.
Eighteen years ago, a then-27-year-old Dong hiked for 508 days
with two of his friends, traversing the entire length of the Ming
Dynasty Great Wall.
Of the roughly 6,300 kilometers of the Wall that once ran from
Hushan in Dandong, Liaoning Province, to Jiayuguan in Gansu
Province, only one-third is still standing. The rest are either in
ruins or have completely disappeared, Dong said.
(China Daily August 6, 2003)