Hopefully, rubbish tips along the wall will one day be a thing of the past
It’s been a big week for the Great Wall. First, the Chinese Government issued a landmark regulation putting the whole of the wall under legal protection, for the first time ever (see “Great Wall gets State protection”). Then the Government announced that it would conduct the first comprehensive survey of the wall, resolving the burning question “Just how long is the Great Wall of China?” (See “Great Wall size mystery may be resolved.”)
And if that weren’t enough, Australian-American couple Emma Nicholas and Brendan Fletcher have announced their plans to return to walking the wall!
Let’s start with the serious stuff. Although the Great Wall may be China’s most famous tourist attraction and national symbol, what little heritage protection it has had up to now has been piecemeal and ineffective. And walking along the wall, you can see the results – trash, inappropriate tourist development, unnecessary road cuts . . .
The new regulation bans these destructive activities and others, including carving graffiti, driving vehicles on the wall, digging, and any activity harmful to the wall. While there’s a big difference between issuing a regulation in Beijing and giving the regulation effect along the thousands of kilometres of wall, it’s encouraging at least to see the government attempting to act on a scale appropriate to the problem.
And just exactly what is that scale? Well, because no one really knows, China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced a three-year project to “accurately,” once and for all, measure the length of the Great Wall. Having overlooked the opportunity to commission an Australian-American couple who are hiking the wall to assist in this fact-finding endeavour, the state is instead going to use remote sensing, aviation and information technology, carried out by the provincial governments, to settle the age-old question of the wall’s length. Expect to hear more in a few years.
Now about that announcement. We’re heading back to Zhongwei on November 7 and will resume hiking the Great Wall on November 8 or 9, depending on how beat we are after a flight from Beijing, a three-hour bus ride, and settling into our hotel. We’ll be making very modest progress to begin with, but after three months of watching our backsides grow, any progress is bound to feel great.
Stay tuned for more details.
it is to be hoped. she said hopefully
Good Voyage.
What is this ‘trash’ you speak of? Do you mean garbage???
Gosh, everybody’s so helpful today!
George – Emma predicted if we left ‘hopefully’ in we’d never hear the end of it! Inspired by your comment we did a little internet research. Thankfully, we found that many contemporary usage experts have no objection to sentence adverbs (e.g., hopefully, actually, luckily); actually, this sort of usage has a long history. Unfortunately, some experts still dislike the usage, but as for their opinion, frankly we don’t give a damn.
Keda – Don’t you mean that ‘trash’ of which we speak?
heh heh
e&b
Wallnut Rob here, and I can tell you that I have asked several Chinese about the length of the Great Wall during our own trek, and I have been assured that is exactly, precisely, without a doubt, somewhere between 23 and 62,000 kilometers long. And yes, Beijing is that way. Or maybe that way. Or back the way you came…..you must have missed it…..
Thanks Ig, that sound really helpful!
I guess we will see you guys one day.
Em, think of poor Beatrice!!
Well spotted George!
PLEASE, COULD YOU GIVE A DEFINITION OF WHAT A WALL GAZETTE IS? AND THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION, PLEAS
ETHANK YOU SO MUCH,
Hi, I am in Holton Middle School. And i really love your website i have always wanted to se stuff in china and now i have got to. I would like to se more stuff but i got to go.
Bye, Josh Dunn
Hey, I was concidering a trip along the wall, hopefully a long one. What kind of gear would I need and what in the way of food and whatnot? Are there local places to stop and purchase food? Is it possible to camp outside in route?
How much money should I consider taking?
Any answers would help, I am thinking about leaving in late May.
-B.