Unregulated mining causes part of Great Wall to collapse

Again mining and/or heritage

Published on 20 October 2011

Author(s): StraitTimes

Type:  News

China - Unregulated mining has caused part of China's ancient Great Wall to collapse, setting off alarm bells for the Unesco World Heritage Site.

The damaged portion is located in a remote area near the county of Laiyuan in Hebei province, about 200km south-west of Beijing.

The area is home to a dozen small mines, with some operating as close as 100m to the centuries-old wall.

'The general awareness of the wall's problems is low... People just think of the famous sections and assume that the rest of the wall is in the same condition.'

  • Mr Dong Waohui, vice-chairman of the Great Wall Association: 'The general awareness of the wall's problems is low... People just think of the famous sections and assume that the rest of the wall is in the same condition.'

Mr Dong Waohui, vice-chairman of the Great Wall Association Villagers and local cultural heritage protection officials said about 700m of the wall, which was built during the reign of Emperor Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), had collapsed.

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