We Cannot Rebuild Our Great Wall – China

An International Tourists Guide to the Chinese Government, Mr Forest Song, said on Wednesday in Beijing, China that the Chinese Government would not rebuild its Great Wall, but would continue to maintain its vestiges.

Song told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Beijing, that the Chinese Government was not considering rebuilding parts of the internationally-recognised wall that had so far been destroyed.

“Let me say that the Chinese people no longer believe in the rebuilding of the fallen parts of our Great Wall. Chinese people now believe in the building of positive walls of love and protection in their hearts.

“We can only continue to maintain the remaining parts of the Great Wall, as less than half of our Great Wall has fallen to very low heights.

“Many sections of this Great Wall has already been designated by the Chinese Government as important national cultural sites.

“The Chinese Government would continue to preserve and protect the remaining parts of the Great Wall for Chinese people and people from all over the world,’’ he said.

Song, who is currently guiding a delegation of visiting Nigerian Journalists to some selected Government organisations and historical sites in Beijing, said that the wall had in the last 600 years, since it was built, continued to attract Chinese, international tourists, researchers and explorers from across the world.

The International Tourists Guide said that the Great Wall had been a major source of revenue for the Chinese Government, from a daily visit of about 35,000 local and international tourists, researchers and explorers.

Song said that the Great Wall, which covered about five thousand kilometres from East to West in Northern China, was built by ancient Chinese to resist invasion from Mongolians and Northern nomads.

“This wall, as we see it today, was mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, to an awesome length of 5,660 kilometres from Shanghai in the East, to the Jiayu Pass in Hebei, Beijing, Shanx, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaaxi and Gansu.

“These walls were built during the age of cold weapons, to serve as a comprehensive defence mechanism. But it has currently become a major tourist attraction to young and old Chinese people, Asian countries and people from other countries of the world,’’ he said.

Some international tourists to the Great Wall, also told a Correspondent of the NAN, who is on the delegation of Nigerian Journalists, that it was joyful for them to visit the historical sites with their family members and friends from within and outside China.

Ms Linda Garrettson, a Chef, Nutrition Coach and Food Writer from the United States, who described her visit to the historical sites as a “dream come true,’’ said that it was unbelievable to see what the ancient Chinese did manually.

Mr Ashok Parmar, who visited the site with his wife and son from India, told NAN that he was overwhelmed by the skillful construction of the Great Wall on such mountanious heights by ancient Chinese in 221 BC.

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China.