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Regulation on Great Wall Protection

Well-Preserved Great Wall in Beijing

The Great Wall of China, being one of the greatest engineering projects on earth, attracts more and more visitors from home and world each year. However, many visitors and local residents' bad behavior on the wall have brought a lot of severe problems. The wall is striving to live! Chinese government pays great attention to the wall's predicament and protection. On Sep. 20 of 2006, the State Council promulgated the regulation on the protection of the Great Wall, which went into effect on Dec.1 of the same year.

The regulation has well regulated visitors' and local residents' behaviors on the wall. When they visit the wall, tourists must observe his or her obligations to protect it. The regulation has 31 articles in all regarding to every uncivil behavior those tourists or local residents may practice.

According to article No. 18, the following activities on the wall are forbidden:

1. Take away earth, bricks, stones and plant crops.

Taking the bricks of Great Wall
to build stockyard is forbidden.

2. Vandalism and graffiti

3. Span or fix any establishment, fixtures, or equipment irrelevant to the Great Wall protection.

4. Drive or span over the wall using any vehicle.

5. Carry any items that may destroy the wall.

6. Organize activities on the sections that have not been developed into tourist areas.

7. Any other activities that are forbidden by laws and regulations on protection of cultural relics.

Of the seven articles, those who conduct behaviors like the items No.3, No.4, No.5 describe will be warned by local cultural relic operating administration if the cases are minor. If circumstances are serious, individuals will be fined CNY 10,000 - CNY 50,000 and the penalty for units are CNY 50,000 - CNY 500,000. The punishment is also applicable to the tourist areas, which receive more visitors that exceed the scenic areas' capability.

Besides, those who conduct behaviors like the items No.1 and No. 6 describe will be warned by local cultural relic operating administration if the cases are minor. If circumstances are serious, individuals will be fined CNY 1000 - CNY 5000 and the penalty for units are CNY 10,000 - CNY50, 000.

Graffiti on the Great Wall is forbidden.

Graffiti on the wall is forbidden.

Shaanxi Great Wall in Danger

The first relevant case involved the damage of the Great Wall:

In late September 2008, Hohhot Qingshuihe County People's Court convicted five defendants who deliberately damaged the Luliangshan section of Ming's Great Wall in the first instance and committed them to one to three years' imprisonment, in addition to fines.

Luliangshan Ming's Great Wall is in Qingshuihe County, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. It is the precious cultural relics under the protection of the state. Within 200 meters (219 yards) on both sides is the key protection area, and a further 300 meters (328 yards) is strictly controlled for construction use. Between March to October, 2007, the five defendants used heavy machines to dig for iron ores near this section. Their excavation caused three damages to the wall, and the most serious one has badly undermined the main body structure.

It is learned that this is the first case concerning the act of damaging the Great Wall punished by law, and the sentence of this case has great significance to the protection of the Great Wall in accordance with the law.

- Last updated on Jan. 19, 2024 by Brenda Lian -