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Great Wall to Get Facelift after Modern Ravages

The popular Badaling section of the Great Wall, which has been defaced by the carvings of visitors, may soon get a face lift.

About four million Chinese and foreign tourists visit the Badaling section near Beijing each year and many have carved their names and other graffiti such as "I have toured the Great Wall," on its bricks, the Xinhua News Agency said.

"The wall looks like a newspaper in the sun. Nearly every piece of brick on the Badaling section of the Great Wall has carvings," said Zheng Yan of the China Great Wall Society.

The society and administrators of the section in November 2005 began soliciting suggestions from the public on how to clean the wall without damaging it. They received hundreds of suggestions, with some coming from abroad, but still have not come up with a proper solution.

Most marks, mainly names and expressions of love, were written or carved between the 1960s and 1990s, according to Zheng. There were fewer recent marks because of better management and protection.

Volunteers are also helping to protect the Great Wall, including Sun Jing, a 72-year-old farmer who lives in a village near the wall. She volunteers to collect rubbish and warns tourists against carving on the wall.