Great Wall Protection

As a legendary feat of ancient defensive architecture, the Great Wall has been suffering erosion and damage due to various environmental reasons and human activities. Hereto, some regulations and laws have been issued by the government to preserve this architectural wonder.

The Importance of the Great Wall

Listed as one of the important World Cultural Heritage in 1987, the Great Wall of China has been a precious property belongs to the world, which endows everyone the responsibility of protecting it. With a history of thousand years, the Great Wall of China bears witness to the civilization and development of ancient China. Thus, the government and individuals should make every effort to preserve it from being damaged.

The Threat toward the Great Wall

When it comes to the Great Wall, people always think of the scene of the majestic Great Wall at Badaling, Juyongguan Pass and Shanhai Pass. In fact, among the arid desert regions, such as the north of Shaanxi and some counties of Gansu also lie across the Great Wall. As time goes on, they were swallowed by the sea of sand or damaged by human activities. At last, they are disappearing and become a passage of unknown history.

The Current Situation of the Great Wall

The Great Wall was originally built by the states of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin started to construct defensive walls successively during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period (770BC-221BC) and then connected by the Emperor Qin Shihuang in 214 B.C., forming the real ten thousand miles long walls. However, there is only 2,500 kilometers of the Great Wall left which is one-third intact, one-third broken and one-third vanished.

Effective Measures

Government

After realizing the urgency of protecting the Great Wall, leaders and government began to put forward some specific protective measures. In 1984, Deng Xiaoping wrote a motto of “Love My China, Repair My Great Wall” to inspire the passion of the whole nation to repair the Great Wall. Later in 2003, the government of Beijing issued Beijing Great Wall protection and management measures, which proposed several detailed methods according to the peculiarity of the Great Wall in Beijing.

In 2006, Wen Jiabao, the Premier of the State Council officially announced the “Regulations on the Protection of the Great Wall”, which is the first national laws and regulations designed for protecting the Great Wall. It is explicitly stipulated that any person or enterprise is forbidden to do constructions within the limits of the protecting plan and engage in the activities such as taking bricks, stones and earth from the wall to build their own houses, or digging in the wall for sheepfolds or latrines and so on. Besides, experts are dispatched to do field research in the province whose walls were seriously damaged so that corresponding protections can be managed.

Individuals

Owing to the measures taken by the Chinese Government to protect the Great Wall, Chinese citizens and visitors of the world are granted the responsibility to protect it. Chinese people are encouraged to plant trees near the Great Wall and remove trash to keep the areas fresh and clean. When visiting the Great Wall, visitors do not leave behind anything besides their footsteps and take away nothing more than good memories, and they must be consciously that it is rude to paint or curve on the Great Wall.

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