The Great Wall in the Present Day
Since the opening of the wall in 1957 (opened by the Government of the Peoples' Republic of China), the wall is no longer a defence barrier, now it is a major tourist attraction for visitors and for the public. After the wall was opened up to the public, hundreds of millions of people have visited various sections. Most of the wall remaining today was built during the Ming Dynasty. Today the wall stretches from the east in Hushan to Jiayuguan in the west crossing through Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai.
Condition of the WallToday
Some of the wall has been renovated while other parts have been left as ruins. Due to erosion and human damage, 2,000 km or 30+% of the Ming Wall has disappeared.
Even more of the wall built by other dynasties has eroded away too! To prevent further destruction and erosion of the wall, the Chinese Government decided to put in place rules and regulations for the protection of the wall. |
(ruins of the Ming Wall)
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Regulations and Rules for The Protection of The Great Wall
As you know the Great Wall is a popular tourist site and attracts many visitors each year. However, due to bad behaviour from occasional tourists and locals the wall has encountered many problems and because of the size of it, it can't be preserved in a museum. Luckily the Government pays a lot of attention to the wall. On the 20th September 2006, the State Council promoted the rules and regulations on the protection of the wall. There are huge fines for people who do things like remove bricks or soil, graffiti, drive cars along the wall, build anything or vandalise the wall.
Culture
Today the Great Wall is a big part of the Chinese Culture and is very popular with Chinese people. It has been included into Chinese Mythology and Symbolism. The most well-known Chinese Myth about the Great Wall is about a woman name Meng Jiangu who cried over the wall because her husband died during the construction of the wall and caused a section to collapse. The myth has been spread through many books, songs and operas.
tourism
In the Chinese holiday season, the wall gets up to 70, 000 visitors a day, over the period of one year over 10 million tourist visit the Great Wall.
One of the most popular sections of the wall is Mutianyu, this is best preserved and well known section. To get up and down the wall at this section, there is a chairlift for taking a scenic ride up and down the Great Wall and there is also a 5 minute toboggan ride for getting down.
Something that tourists like doing is going for hikes on the wall.
One of the most popular sections of the wall is Mutianyu, this is best preserved and well known section. To get up and down the wall at this section, there is a chairlift for taking a scenic ride up and down the Great Wall and there is also a 5 minute toboggan ride for getting down.
Something that tourists like doing is going for hikes on the wall.
Other Popular Tourist Sections....
Some other popular sections include Badaling, Juyongguan, Simatai, Jinshaling, Huanghuacheng, Shanhaiguan, Yanmenguan, Jiayuguan, Yumenguan, Jiakou, Gubeikou, Huangyaguan, Yangguan and Zhenbeitai.