Beijing began Tuesday a second phase of a project to repair a 12.4 kilometer section of the Great Wall in a suburban area, the municipal government announced.

Located 29 kilometers northwest of the Chengguan Town of Huairou District, the Huanghuacheng section of the Great Wall was first built in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). The existing part was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

It has attracted numerous visitors with its original look of the ancient Great Wall, careful architectural handicraft, colorful patterns, steep mountains and dense forests and plants.

"Some parts of this wall section, however, are suffering great damage for both natural and artificial reasons. The major purpose of the renovation project is to recover the wall's original appearance and to ensure the safety of visitors there," said an official with the city cultural heritage bureau.

At a cost of 12 million yuan (US$1.45 million), the whole project will cover rebuilding of 13 towers, two gates, 3,300 meters of wall and other facilities on a four-kilometer stretch of the Huanghuacheng section. The total area of the repair of buildings totals 18,870 square meters, according to the bureau.

The repair project is scheduled to be carried out in three phases. "The first phase completed last October and the second phase is expected to end before October this year," said the official, though he did not give a final completion time for the whole project.

Investigations by the bureau show that the total length of Beijing section of the Great Wall is 629 kilometers, less than one-fifth of which are well-preserved and intact.

"A total of 10-kilometer-long Great Wall in Beijing has been developed for tourists. After the repair project for Huanghuacheng section is over, we will begin to renovate other sections, like Simatai, Chadaocheng and Gubeikou," said the official.

Beijing issued rules for protecting Great Wall in 2003, which forbid climbing sections of the Great Wall that have not been approved open to visitors and commercial activities including illegally charging tourists.

The Great Wall was first built in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). It is generally considered to start at Jiayuguan Passin northwestern Gansu Province and stretches for 6,000 km to end at Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai Bay in the east.

The wall was rebuilt many times through the centuries, and many sections of it have suffered serious damage from wind and water, as well as human destruction. Since the 1980s, the Chinese government has allocated special funds to restore this national monument, such as the sections at Badaling and Mutianyu in suburban Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2005)