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)