Shortlisted
“SOS” from The Great Wall of China
Kimberly Nins
he Great Wall of China is China’s pride. It is a symbol of our heritage, and shows the rest of the world
the true greatness of the nation of the dragon. How important is the Great Wall to the Chinese people?
It is China’s most ancient and treasured man-made structure, and numerous tourists from all over the
world travel all the way to China just to see the grand boulders. However, it is sad to see that our
number one national monument is not being properly taken care of, and it is now starting to crumble.
on Leung, Group 2: Non-Fiction, St. Paul's Co-educational College Primary School
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It sounds unbelievable but from the 1950s through the 70s, the Great Wall was severely destroyed on
purpose -- Chairman Mao Zi Dong announced that everything from the old society was bad and should be rid of,
including valuable books and buildings. The government did not care if this ancient structure was a national
treasure. Since the people had to obey their government, they said farewell to many sections of the Great Wall.
During the same period and even later, the poor rural people in China also did a lot of damage to our pride
monument – they knocked down portions of the Wall as they needed the free rocks to build their homes! May be
they had to sacrifice their heritage to take care of their own lives. In recent years, the Chinese government has
also tried to repair the damages, but the works were often done by those who did not know the right methods to
fix them. Some parts of the Great Wall can never be rebuilt anymore -- the world has lost a part of its history
and culture forever!
Perhaps these tragedies could not have been avoided, but other damages are simply caused by people’s
selfishness. Chinese citizens have very little sense of civic responsibility. For example, travellers often carve
their names onto the bricks of the Great Wall to leave a mark that they have been to the site, and sadly, most are
Chinese names. Apart from that, a lot of businesses have been set up around and along the Great Wall, such as
souvenir stalls and food markets, while large events such as fashion catwalks and movie filming attract even
larger crowds. It is said that just 550 kilometres out of the 25,000 kilometres of the Great Wall is still in good
condition; the rest of it is depressing to look at.
The Chinese government is now trying to improve the condition of our national symbol. The Great Wall
Society organises a 35-day educational tour along the Great Wall, and encourages Chinese citizens to participate
in the Adopt-a-Wall-scheme to get donations for conservation projects. In recent years, Chinese tourists are
starting to realise how seriously their Great Wall is deteriorating and are slowly beginning to feel that they too
have a responsibility to protect it. If the Government and the citizens all gather to help the Great Wall, it will
have a chance to get back in shape. But how?
I think it is crucial that Chinese people understand it is not enough to read about their history in books; they
must see the importance of preserving it, including the art pieces and traditional habits. Schools on the Mainland
can bring their students to see the most severely damaged parts of the Great Wall for themselves instead of
touring the most beautiful sections, and the teachers should explain to their students how they should contribute
to the conservation works. The Government must remove or at least limit the number of shops and food stalls
and must supervise film-making activities to prevent the Great Wall from being wrecked more. It should open
other sections of the site for tourists to balance the wear and tear caused by the visitors, who will be bursting
with excitement to see the "new" parts of the Wall. At the same time, the Government can make more money
while they attract more travellers.
If the Chinese government and the Chinese people do not cooperate and try to save The Great Wall in time,
it will soon be in complete ruin. Then people will no longer be able to appreciate this breath-taking structure,
and a part of our cultural heritage goes down the drain.
So let us all contribute to this SOS mission -- now!
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