The Great Wall is plagued by visitors who relentlessly carve their names on its surface.

A program to collect ideas from citizens about a facelift for the damaged surface of the Great Wall has ended recently.

Organizers have received over 6,000 different plans on repairing the "disfigured" surface of the Great Wall, yet none of the ideas seems practical, causing the facelift project be stalled.

The Vice-General Secretary of the China Great Wall Association, Zhang Ji, says the idea outreach program received over 6,000 different ideas aimed at repairing the nation's most famous symbol of pride, through letters, e-mails, and faxes. Some of the strange ideas include spray cleaning the Great Wall to remove its "scars" or selling replicas for visitors to carve their words into.

Experts say the ideas from the public do not realistically address the problems. In any case, the event has been a good way to raise people's awareness about protecting the county's premier national treasure.

The Great Wall is plagued by visitors who relentlessly carve their names on its surface. The most common phrase carved on The Great Wall is "I have visited the Great Wall."

(CRIENGLISH.com May 26, 2006)