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Investigation begins into botched restoration of ‘wild Great Wall’
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CHINA’S cultural heritage watchdog is investigating reports of a much pilloried “restoration” of part of the Great Wall.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that if problems exist, those responsible for the damage will be held accountable.
Local authorities in northeast China’s Liaoning Province are being mocked over work on the crumbling but much-loved 700-year-old, 8-kilometer Xiaohekou section that had become known as the “most beautiful wild Great Wall.”
Defensive works and guard towers were knocked flat as part of the project, officially launched to prevent further deterioration caused by the elements. Reports said sand and other materials were poured on top, protecting it but giving it the appearance of an elevated cycle path running through steep forested hills.
A post widely circulated online claimed the section in Suizhong County had been defaced.
The post featured photos of the Great Wall’s paved-over surface, which appeared jarringly modern.
Media reports speculated it was a result of poor preservation techniques applied by local cultural heritage authorities.
The section, built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), has long suffered from severe structural problems, according to an SACH statement, and it was placed under a preservation order from 2013 to 2014.
Preservation plans were approved by SACH experts at the time, the statement said, adding that the investigators who have been sent out will evaluate the outcome of the preservation project and investigate the project’s management and supervision.
The head of the Liaoning Provincial Antiquities Bureau, Ding Hui, was quoted by The Beijing News as saying the work was completed two years ago over the course of three months as part of a government restoration plan.
“It really was an ugly repair job,” Ding conceded.
The section built in 1381 is on the border with Hebei Province.
An official at the Culture Bureau in Huludao, the city which oversees Suizhong, said: “The old wall was badly damaged over a long period of history and the restoration work was aimed at preventing it from falling apart and being washed away by the rain.”
Many of the reports on the restoration lamented its inconsistency, with different materials, including lime, mortar and concrete, used in different places.
Dong Yaohui, vice chairman of the Great Wall Studies Society, called the work “basic and crude.”
“This sort of repair work harms the people’s appreciation of the Great Wall’s history and culture, severing a channel of dialogue between the people and cultural heritage,” Dong was quoted as saying by The Beijing News. “This sort of behavior is ridiculous,” he added.
China has passed legislation in recent years to protect the Great Wall, large sections of which have been bulldozed, pillaged for building materials or heavily restored and commercialized.
The wall dates from 220 BC, when China joined existing walls and fortifications to defend against invasions from northern tribes.
Construction continued up through the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) until the wall became the world’s largest military structure, allowing troops and couriers to move long distances quickly.
Estimates of its overall length vary, but according to UNESCO, which named it a World Heritage Site in 1987, it once ran for more than 20,000 kilometers.
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