Man defaces Great Wall on first day of new rules, loses face

A man was caught defacing the Great Wall at Badaling the day regulation listing punishment for such vandalism came into effect on Monday.

The Beijing Badaling Great Wall administrative authority brought the regulation into effect on Monday under which seven kinds of behavior leading to damage of historical and cultural relics invites punishment and blacklisting.

The blacklist will periodically be made public, clamping down further on unbecoming behavior at historical sites.

The man found carving characters on the wall on Monday has been detained for five days and fined 200 yuan ($28.3).

Authorities at the Yanqing district tourism bureau, serving the wall's Badaling section, said they were even considering establishing a list of vandals with other scenic sites, to stop them from entry there too.

Vandals are a constant menace at tourist sites.

A woman tourist was seen carving characters on a section of the wall at Badaling with her keys on March 24, the day it reopened to tourists after being closed to contain the novel coronavirus.

Such vandalism causes great losses to cultural relics. Enhancing punishment is crucial to curbing such behavior and protecting relics.

The blacklisting of vandals will go a long way toward protecting such relics and the list should be shared with other tourist spots for better protecting our cultural heritage.