Built in ancient times as a major feat to keep nomads out, the Great Wall is now in danger from those within.

According to statistics from the Great Wall Society of China, of all sections of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), only one-third is still intact. Another one-third has completely vanished due to natural erosion and human destruction. The remaining is weathered to various degrees.

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall is the portion of the wall that is most famous and covered a length of nearly 7,000 kilometres.

The first major human destruction of the Great Wall dates back to when Japanese troops deliberately wrecked some parts during their invasion.

No longer serving its defensive purpose, the mammoth structure suffered destruction up to the 1950s. The segments spiraling along western China were peeled off by rural dwellers to build their own houses and sheep corrals. Some were demolished to give way for construction of factories and residential buildings.

In recent years, flourishing tourism further accelerated the ageing of the human wonder.

Bricks from the most popularly visited sections are carved with names; rubbish is strewn over battlements. Peddlers have put up illegal ticket booths to collect "fees" from domestic and overseas tourists venturing to its wilder sections.

Earlier this year, the US-based World Monuments Fund added the Great Wall to its list of the world's 100 most endangered sites. The degeneration has caught the government's attention, and some parts have been restored since as early as 1949.

But more has to be done to deter the damage. As Dong Yaohui from the Great Wall Society of China pointed out, legislation is the most effective way to protect this giant outdoor relic. "Most people are law-abiding. The major problem is that they have no idea what it takes to protect this cultural heritage. So we need some laws to tell people what they should do, and to punish those who sacrifice the wall for construction," Dong said.

To protect the 628 kilometres of the Great Wall around Beijing, the municipal government will soon issue its first regulation to protect the Great Wall. The regulation, in draft form, calls for special protection zones to be set up along the Great Wall.

But complicated red tape has made the chronic problem difficult to solve. The Construction Ministry, rather than the State Bureau for Cultural Relics, manages all world heritage sites in China.

Private groups are also working to protect the 2,000-year old wall. Apart from the Great Wall Society of China, the International Friends of the Great Wall has been involved in protecting sections of the wall around the capital.

Headed by William Lindesay, an Englishman who hiked the wall in 1987, the group will hire local people to pick up trash and prevent bricks from being carried off. Signs will be erected along trails leading up to the wall reminding visitors not to smoke, litter or disturb the environment.

Most of the preservation work is concentrated in the Beijing area, leaving a large portion of the Great Wall still unattended.

( China Daily July 30, 2002)