[PEN-L:28256] Beijing vows to protect the Great Wall

["Ulhas Joglekar" <joglekarulhas@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Times of India

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2002

Beijing vows to protect the Great Wall

AFP

BEIJING: Authorities in the Chinese capital will work with international
cultural organizations to protect the Great Wall, China's most recognised
edifice currently facing the ravages of tourism, state press said Wednesday.

"Litter, graffiti and illegal constructions are just the tip of the iceberg
that poses physical and aesthetic damage to the Great Wall and its natural
setting," William Lindesay, head of the International Friends of the Great
Wall told the China Daily.

Increasing tourism, easier access and more leisure time for Chinese people
is threatening to blight more and more of the walls in the rural areas
around Beijing, he said. Lindesay's group, along with the Beijing
Administrative Bureau of Culture Relcis and the UN Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization signed an agreement on Tuesday to protect
Beijing's 629 km portion of the wall.

Beijing will also issue its first-ever regulation on the protection of the
Great Wall later this year, the report said. The groups are striving to keep
a balance between preventing parts of the wall from collapsing, while also
preserving the wall's authenticity.

Earlier this year, the US-based World Monuments Fund placed the wall on its
list of the "World's 100 most endangered sites," it said. "A saturated
tourist industry is a disaster to the heritage site," Edmund Moukala,
programme officer the UNESCO in Beijing told the paper.

"We should first educate people, especially youths about appreciating the
value of and protecting the Great Wall." The Wall stretches some 7,200 km
from China's eastern coastline near the Bohai Sea to landlocked Gansu
province in the northwest.

It was built over thousands of years by successive dynasties to prevent
bands of Mongol and other invading "barbarians" from invading China.
However, this function was largely ineffective.

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