Tourists visiting the Badaling Great Wall will no longer be troubled by the cries of peddlers, and will enjoy better tranquility in appreciating the grandeur of the world wonder. All vendors' stalls on the Great Wall itself will be banished.

The Badaling Great Wall administration has launched a program to improve the scenic area's tourist infrastructure and environment.

The recent shake-up will remove the last 8 remaining vendor's stalls within the year, putting an end to 30 years of stalls on the Great Wall.

Besides stalls on the Badaling Great Wall itself, another 61 stalls near the north entrance of the scenic area will also be removed. All the stalls will be relocated to a commercial building to facilitate tourist shopping.

As well as the removal of the stalls, over 2,000 meters of high-voltage transmission line that pass over the Great Wall will be buried underground to give tourists a better view.

A transit road will also be constructed to divert non-tourist traffic, to ease traffic pressure.

Located 75km (47 miles) northwest of central Beijing, the Badaling Great Wall is a typical segment of the Great Wall, built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644AD), and one of the Chinese capital's favorite tourist sites.

(CRI March 18, 2007)