Hikers to be banned from vast section of Great Wall
Beijing's local government has approved a law forbidding people from visiting the undeveloped parts of the Great Wall.
The restrictions are part of a package of protection measures the municipal government has already passed which will be implemented on August 1, a spokesman for the Beijing Bureau of Cultural Relics said.
The regulations will apply to the 629km section of the wall that falls within the Beijing municipality's boundaries - by far the most visited section of the 6,700km wall.
As only 29km of the Beijing stretch has been restored to its former glory, about 600kms will now be off limits to tourists and hikers.
The undeveloped parts, known as the Wild Wall, have become increasingly popular in recent years with hikers who enjoy the relative tranquility away from the hoards of tour groups and pestering hawkers.
A protection zone will be set up along both sides of the wall but it is not yet clear how wide this will be.
The official said 'protection teams' would be established with the help of village governments to ensure people do not approach the wall, with violators liable for fines of up to 30,000 yuan (HK$28,300).
Also under the new law, several buildings that are not considered to fit in with the Great Wall's landscape will be pulled down, and tighter restrictions will be imposed on TV and movie producers who want to film the historic setting.
The regulations were welcomed by Dong Yaohui, secretary-general of the China Great Wall Society, who said that the wall was only protected by a general law on cultural relics, which he felt was too vague.
He said that about 10 million people visited the wall each year, with more than 60 per cent of those visits being in Beijing municipality.
'But a combination of time and tourism means the damage to the wall is becoming increasingly serious,' he said. 'Now less than a third of the original structure still stands, a third is partially intact and the rest has disappeared.'
He said that a lack of awareness of conservation issues was the biggest threat to the wall. 'The Great Wall is being nibbled away and is disappearing brick by brick,' Mr Dong said. 'In 2001, some people in Shanxi province were caught taking away a 60-metre stretch of the wall a few bricks at a time, but they were only fined 200 yuan.'
Aside from Beijing, the wall runs through Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu provinces.
Hui Lin, the organiser of the Beijing Hikers Club, said her members would be disappointed by the new law. She said her club observed strict rules when guiding groups.
'People love to visit these areas,' she said. 'The scenery along these parts is unspoiled and absolutely fantastic.'
