Great Wall Repair Plan Launched againAn ambitious renovation project that faltered last year is back on its feet, say sources from the State Bureau of Cultural Relics.It involves one of China's most enduring symbols: the Great Wall. The goal: repairing sections built during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Approximately 1,000 metres of the Great Wall in the remote mountains of Urad Front Banner will be repaired this year, using 600,000 yuan (US$72,290) allocated by the bureau. Over the next five years, local relics authorities will renovate 1,000 metres of the wall each year. The project actually kicked off last year. But a shortage of funds meant only 300 metres of the wall were renovated. This is the first renovation effort on sections of the Great Wall built more than 2,000 years ago, said Guo Zhan, deputy director of the bureau's Relics Protection Division. This section of the Great Wall, zigzagging across northern China's Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Gansu Province, was built to fend off attacks by nomadic tribes. The wall is 3.5 metres high, 4.1 metres wide on the bottom and 1.5 metres wide at the top. Exposed to piercing winds and the scorching sun for centuries, the wall is in urgent need of repair, said Ha Da, an official with the local relics authorities of Inner Mongolia. The section in Inner Mongolia runs for more than 200 kilometres. The wall will be restored to its original appearance, using rocks from mountains. Because of limited funds and the lack of equipment, the current renovation project will not cover sections of the Great Wall in the mountains, the official said. The Qin Dynasty Great Wall is expected to be open to tourists after renovation. Sections of the Great Wall well known to tourists were mostly built during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties; they remain in better condition since they have been repaired since 1949, bureau sources said. Local media reported that the renovation project was launched after a small section of the wall was destroyed by a highway construction crew under supervision of the Inner Mongolia Bureau of Communications early last year. Local relics officials warned the construction crew in March 1999, after they found minor damage to the section of the Great Wall in the suburbs of Baotou. However, when officials conducted a second inspection three months later, they found that section of the wall had been destroyed. The communications bureau issued a formal apology and paid 80,000 yuan (US$9,640) in compensation to the local relics authorities to settle the issue. |
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