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Great Wall woos aid to fend off destruction
By Yu Zhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-15 06:03
The Great Wall, long synonymous with China itself, is struggling to cope with
old age, a problem aggravated by deliberate human destruction.
Part of the Great
Wall-built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)- zigzags across Helan Mountain
in the city of Shizuishan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region. The area is known as China's Museum of the Great Wall.
[newsphoto] | On top of the centuries of ravaging
by wind and rain, increasingly frequent deliberate damage is also causing
concern: People steal bricks and stones to sell them or use them as building
materials.
It has been reported in the mainstream media that about one-third of the
1,500-kilometre Great Wall in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,
known as China's Museum of the Great Wall, has disappeared.
The section of the wall in this region was built between the Warring States
Period (475-221 BC) and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), mostly using clay.
"Some residents living nearby dig holes into the wall and use them as
pigpens, sheepfolds, toilets, or even as homes," said Wei Zhong, deputy director
of the local cultural heritage bureau.
But he added that the practice is being controlled as "a lot of efforts has
been made to persuade those residents to move away."
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