Historians have urged more efforts to protect the western sections of the Great Wall in the wake of an official survey of the historic structure.
A section of the Great Wall. [File photo]
Between July 6 and 12, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, arranged for experts to check up on the state of the Wall in Gansu province, which holds an estimated 3,600 km of its total 21,196.18 km.
The team visited 10 major sites in five cities, including Dingxi, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Jiuquan.
They were alarmed at the condition of the Wall, built in the dynasties of Qin (221B.C.--206 B.C.), Han (202B.C.--220A.D.) and Ming (1368A.D.--1644A.D.).
Unlike eastern parts of the Great Wall in Beijing, Heibei and Liaoning, which were mostly constructed with stones and bricks, the sections in Gansu were built with tamped earth. After centuries of erosion from fierce wind and frequent sandstorms, they have become extremely fragile.
In Weiyuan County, some parts built in the Warring States Period (475 B.C.--221 B.C.) have been merged with surrounding cropland, while another 200-km-long section built in the Ming Dynasty in Dingxi city has suffered weathering, collapse and biological damage over a long period.
"The Great Wall in Gansu is facing both natural and human damage," said Yang Huifu, head of the Gansu Bureau of Cultural Relics, adding that some walls have been swept away by torrential rain and heavy wind.
