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Extended Protection for Beijing's Great Wall

The Beijing Cultural Heritage Administration has signed a memo with the International Friends of the Great Wall, according to China Daily. It outlines a scheme of cooperation to protect various parts of the Wall in Beijing.

Included in the memo are a management plan for the 629-kilometer-long Wall, regulations for demolishing buildings within 200 meters of the structure, and the idea of employing local people to act as environmental protectionists. The memo also says the non-governmental Friends' body will provide equipment and a working environment for experts to carry out research and supervise programs concerned with cultural relics.

William Lindesay, founder of the Friends' body, maintains that natural features around the Great Wall are an integral part of the structure, and thus should be added to the entire relic's protection list. The 45-year-old Englishman, in China for 12 years, has spent more than 500 days on the Great Wall. In 1998 he mobilized volunteers from overseas to clean the Wall, at the same time arousing public concern over problems associated with the relics.