The Great Wall Over the pass 2000 years, China’s Great wall has taken a beating. When rain, invaders and more recently, tourists have all taken their toll. British Campaigner William Lindsey has documented the wall’s changes since the first picture that ever were taken over 100 years ago. Armed with a 35 millimeter camera, tripod and archive of all pictures, he has spent the last few years re-photographing sections of the wall. His then and now photographs are on display at the Beijing Museum. He hopes the story will move minds and muscles. I mean this is a good summary. It reminds people that even the Great Wall of China, one of the world’s greatest buildings will not just stay there; it has to be protected in a positive way. Beijing’s 2008 Olympics Games are the newest threat on the horizon. The Games will see the number of visitors to the wall hit in all time high. But Lindsey says the Olympic bid also inspired the first legal protective measures for the wall. It’s now impossible for a developer to lease land beside the wall and build an Olympics resort to give guests a room with a view. It’s impossible now. And that’s a good thing. Even today not all Chinese understand the value of their nation’s culture treasure. China has been renovating the wall since the 1950s. Initial efforts were crude essentially re-building long stretches with new materials. Today renovators use a more authentic touch. But campaigners have their work cut out for them. After all, the Great Wall is 64 hundred Km long. If you hike far enough along a tourist friendly stretch the Great Wall at MUQIANYU, you’ll arrive here, where the sanitised brick and mortar structure give way to this. This is what most of the Great Wall looks like today. The government’s new drive to protect their national treasure is a good start. But it is only that. A start.

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