A group of preservation experts will launch a thorough investigation next month into the well-being of the Great Wall, one of China's most treasured cultural relics that has been suffering from booming tourism and excessive construction.

The move is the latest among civic efforts to protect and promote the honoured World Heritage site.

Beijing legislators have urged the establishment of a law specifically protecting the wall, which would include stiff punishment for scrawling graffiti, dumping rubbish and even spitting.

The investigation will start from the wall's most eastern point - the Hushan section in Northeast China's Liaoning Province - on August 3, and end at the westernmost point at Jiayuguan Pass in Northwest China's Gansu Province on September 16.

"China's Great Wall, built before the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to keep out warlike nomads, has almost disappeared over the past 2,000 years.

"And the wall built by the Ming Dynasty, what we usually call the Great Wall, has also suffered deterioration from nature and man-made calamities," said Dong Yaohui, secretary general of the Great Wall Association, which is organizing the investigation.

"Only one-third of the Ming wall is still existing today. Another one-third is in ruins and the remaining third has disappeared," said Dong, who made an epic trek on foot along the whole Ming Great Wall between 1984 and 1985.

A group of 25 experts will participate in the investigation, inspecting some 33 major spots along the wall in eight provinces and municipalities, asking about the current protection and promotion status and about the conditions of people living around there.

( China Daily July 27, 2002)