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Inner Mongolia undertakes Great Wall repair

BEIJING  -- The most extensive preservation project for the "Great Wall" has been launched by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

May 11, 2008
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Fundraisers walk to Beijing on Great Wall

Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John and her partner John Easterling (L) walk along the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China in Hebei province, April 7, 2008 at the start of the "Great Walk to Beijing", which she initiated to raise funds to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. International stars and cancer survivors will walk 228 km along the Great Wall of China for 23 days.

 April 07, 2008
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Japanese delegation climbs the Great Wall

Members of a Japanese youths delegation pose for a group photo on the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing, March 13, 2008. The 1,000-strong delegation is on a week-long friendly visit to China.

March 14, 2008
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Great Wall threatened by green fields

Updated: 2008-01-08 07:13

The Great Wall in Shandan County, Gansu Province, is made of mud. Even so, it is truly spectacular and despite centuries of weathering, it is unbroken for some 80 km.

Great Wall threatened by green fields

Irrigation near the Great Wall in Shandan county, Gansu Province, is causing subsidence. Piao Tiejun

It was here, in 1987, that I was seduced into thinking that following the Wall on foot across China was going to be straightforward.

On my return I looked around Xiakou, once an important town on the Silk Road, now gearing up for tourism. I climbed a nearby hill for a view of the town and saw a new street lined with gray, concrete buildings that sported mock battlements. It was built recently for tourists, I was told.

Later, we drove north along the wall and eventually came to Changchengkou, which means "hole in the long wall".

In 1987 it had been a narrow opening, today it is much wider as National Highway No 312 goes through it. Juggernauts rumbled by, just meters away from one of the tallest watchtowers on this entire section.

We parked the jeep and took a walk, only to find that there were green fields where previously there was the Gobi Desert.

Fertile topsoil had been brought in, permitting crop cultivation immediately beside the Wall. At first I thought this was good news, but later discovered that heavy irrigation was undermining the Wall's foundations.

The Wall was sinking and I do not have to be a structural engineer to predict that if cultivation continues much longer, the Wall, on this section, will eventually crumble.

Saving Shandan's Great Wall is a must to maintain the Wall's continuity. If something is not done soon, we will be losing hundreds of meters of Wall a year.

It won't be long before tourists in Shandan may have to make do with new attractions in stone and concrete, instead of marveling at the serpentine construction of mud that is currently snaking its way across the desert.(China Daily 01/08/2008 page6)

 

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