Silk Road. It created more opportunity for the people to exchange their political, social and economical ideas.
Some civilizations of ancient China are preserved in the tamped-earth sections of towers in Western Han in
Gansu Province. The perfect masonry building knowledge of the wall in Ming Dynasty is still preserved today.
The Great Wall is under siege
When we are enjoying the beautiful view and relaxing in the soft breeze at the top of the Great Wall, do you
know you are stepping on piles of skeletons at the foot of the wall? Can you feel thousands of Chinese people’s
tears and sweat pouring down to their cheeks? Actually, the human cost of constructing the Great Wall was huge,
especially in Qin Dynasty. Millions of soldiers, prisoners and local people died in building it. It was really a
very sad part of our history.
Nowadays the Great Wall is facing some problems. Swarms of tourists are the threats. Each year, about
several million people from all over the world visit the Great Wall, bringing in great profit, but at the same time
also causing serious damage. You can find hotels, shops and other facilities like cable cars set up in Badaling for
the tourists to visit the top of the steepest sections. It looks more like a market than the historical site. Besides
that, two-thirds of the wall have been damaged and destroyed without regular maintenance. Moreover, some
inconsiderate tourists throw their rubbish on the wall and even write some rude words there. Some tourists even
ignored the law and held all night party secretly on the wall in 2006.
The wall is also ruined by nature. More than 60 km of the wall in Gansu province will be eroded by
sandstorms in the next 20 years. The wall in Hebei province collapsed after days of continuous heavy rains. In
Yulin province, the desertification problem is very serious. Most parts of the wall are buried by sandstorms.
Moreover, the wall is demolished by the profit makers. The people illegally mined for minerals in Inner
Mongolia, Gansu Provinces, Ningxia and Shanxi. The rich soil is sold for fertilizer. Many bricks in some areas
have been stolen for road construction, housing and reservoir building. In some places, since the reckless
industrial expansion, the people dynamited the wall and sell the stones for profit. In many places, when the wall
has crumbled, the people served it as a playground for the children. Some sections of the wall were bombed
during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Therefore, the gigantic wriggling dragon is disconnecting and just
less than 30% has remained in good condition.
Preserving the Great Wall
Actually, the fate of the Great Wall is determined by the attitudes of the emperors or nowadays we call them
governors. Recently, more and more people have demanded the Chinese governor to remedy the destroyed parts
of the wall. The district officials did the research and reported it to the central governor. The governor also has
made laws to protect this valuable historical site. Firstly, hikers are not allowed to explore the unprotected
sections of the Great Wall. Secondly, the new regulation prohibits the building of any structure that causes
physical and aesthetic damage to the wall and its natural setting. The prohibition extends 500 metres on either
side of the wall. Those existing illegal constructions, according to the new regulation, must move within a fixed
period of time.
We cannot avoid the natural sandstorm destroying the wall but we can take some responsible actions to
preserve and protect it. LET’S TAKE OUR ACTION NOW!
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