Man makes it a mission to save Great Wall
Source: Xinhua |
May 25, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ACCORDING to a Chinese saying, "One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero." If the opposite is true, there's no questioning how Fu Kaishun stacks up.
Fu, 66, a retired civil servant who is fascinated with the Great Wall, decided to walk a 100-kilometer stretch of the Great Wall in Fugu County, Shaanxi Province, starting in 2010.
With just a crutch and a backpack, Fu has walked back and forth along the section of the Great Wall several times to record wear and tear on watchtowers and fortresses, as well as other natural and man-made damage.
"I just want to leave some research behind for future generations," Fu said.
The Fugu section of the Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has endured centuries of weathering and erosion.
In 2010, Fu was the first person to count all 196 watchtowers along this section of the wall. The watchtowers are all in extremely poor condition, some barely even visible.
"The information collected by Fu is crucial to the protection of the Great Wall," said Tan Yushan, the head of the county's culture bureau.
The walls, horse tracks, watchtowers and fortresses that make up the Great Wall span 15 provincial-level regions from west to east, including Qinghai, Shaanxi and Beijing.
"The Fugu section of the Great Wall is not as imposing as the Badaling or Juyongguan Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing, but they are precious possessions our ancestors left," Fu said, adding that they should be better protected, not left to be destroyed.
As a whole, the Great Wall was built continuously from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD as a major military defense project spanning different dynasties.
It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.
About 21,196 kilometers of wall currently remains, according to survey results released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2012.
However, some sections of the Great Wall across the country's arid northwest have been nearly flattened by sandstorms, strong winds, torrential rains and human activities.
"Some people tore down the walls of the Great Wall to make way for road repair projects, and some even took the bricks from the Great Wall to build homes," Tan said.
Though county authorities set up a Great Wall protection team in 2005, staff shortages and insufficient funds have impeded their work, Tan said.
Fu, 66, a retired civil servant who is fascinated with the Great Wall, decided to walk a 100-kilometer stretch of the Great Wall in Fugu County, Shaanxi Province, starting in 2010.
With just a crutch and a backpack, Fu has walked back and forth along the section of the Great Wall several times to record wear and tear on watchtowers and fortresses, as well as other natural and man-made damage.
"I just want to leave some research behind for future generations," Fu said.
The Fugu section of the Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has endured centuries of weathering and erosion.
In 2010, Fu was the first person to count all 196 watchtowers along this section of the wall. The watchtowers are all in extremely poor condition, some barely even visible.
"The information collected by Fu is crucial to the protection of the Great Wall," said Tan Yushan, the head of the county's culture bureau.
The walls, horse tracks, watchtowers and fortresses that make up the Great Wall span 15 provincial-level regions from west to east, including Qinghai, Shaanxi and Beijing.
"The Fugu section of the Great Wall is not as imposing as the Badaling or Juyongguan Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing, but they are precious possessions our ancestors left," Fu said, adding that they should be better protected, not left to be destroyed.
As a whole, the Great Wall was built continuously from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD as a major military defense project spanning different dynasties.
It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.
About 21,196 kilometers of wall currently remains, according to survey results released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2012.
However, some sections of the Great Wall across the country's arid northwest have been nearly flattened by sandstorms, strong winds, torrential rains and human activities.
"Some people tore down the walls of the Great Wall to make way for road repair projects, and some even took the bricks from the Great Wall to build homes," Tan said.
Though county authorities set up a Great Wall protection team in 2005, staff shortages and insufficient funds have impeded their work, Tan said.
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