Beijing repairs 'wild Great Wall'

BEIJING -- Beijing will start repairing the eastern part of the Jiankou Great Wall at the end of April.

Jiankou section is located in Huairou District of Beijing. It is one of the most dangerous parts of the Great Wall and called by mountain hikers as "the wild Great Wall."

Zhang Tong, director of the Huairou district cultural relics office, said the repair of Jiankou Great Wall was initiated at the end of 2017, and repairs with a total length of 2,232 meters including 11 towers have been completed.

The repair on the eastern part, with a length of 885 meters including eight towers, will be finished this year.

The office has carried out aerial photographing and 3D modeling for the repair work.

Originally built in Tang Dynasty (618-907) and restored in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Jiankou Great Wall connects to Mutianyu Great Wall to the east and Huanghuacheng Great Wall to the west.

"The renovation aims to eliminate potential safety hazards, while preserving the unique landscape and characteristics of the section," Zhang said.

The Great Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consists of many interconnected walls. Beijing has planned to comprehensively protect and develop the Great Wall Cultural Belt, with a total area of 4,929.29 square km, which includes both heritage protection and ecological conservation.