Even though it spans 13,000 miles, not all of the Great Wall of China can be viewed by visitors, making certain tourist sections overly crowded. However soon, more sections of this ancient historical site will be opened to visitors.
China will be sharing more of the world's largest manmade structure with visitors. Every year 9-10 million people visit this ancient attraction, making it the most visited ancient ruins in the world. To accommodate the heavy tourist traffic of this area, Beijing will open two new parts of the Great Wall for visitors to access.
On Saturday, Beijing media reported that the municipal government will open the Huanghuacheng and Hefangkou sections of the Great Wall to the public and expand the popular Mutianyu and Badaling sites in the capital's northern suburbs. There is no word on when this will occur.
Currently, there are only four public Great Wall sites which are often packed with tourists, especially on weekends and holidays. Tourists started to adventure to closed sections of the wall, causing damage to the ancient structure.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that Kong Fanzhi, chief of the city's cultural relics bureau, said the move was aimed at reducing the load on Great Wall sections that are currently open to tourists in Beijing, such as Badaling, Mutianyu, Simatai and Juyongguan.
Wang Yuwei, a cultural relics protection official, said that most of the wall in Beijing remains in good condition. He also said that the city is building a Great Wall database, which will be open to the public.
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications built throughout centuries to protect the country's ancient empire. It was built across several dynasties starting 2,200 years ago.
Saturday was also China's National Cultural Heritage Day, a movement that began in 2006 to call for public protection over the country's cultural heritage.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
