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Stealing the Great Wall
28 Nov 2006
Three people have been detained for digging up bits of the Great Wall located in Inner Mongolia for landfill, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
The men, who tackled the wall with excavators, only narrowly avoided stringent new regulation to be introduced on December 1st, in a move to better protect the tourist attraction.
They were apparently using the 2,200-year old remains for landfill for a village factory.
Erhaihao village head Hao Zengjun reportedly told officials from the municipal office for cultural relics protection, "It's just a pile of earth".
The Great Wall is a United Nations World Heritage Site and stretches 4,000 miles across the country.
Tourists visiting China can access the tiny ten-kilometre stretch officially open to tourists at Badaling, near Beijing, which draws ten million visitors yearly.
The new laws will empower authorities to imprison people guilty of inflicting deliberate damage to cultural relics for up to ten years, while a fine specifically targeting people taking earth or bricks from the Great Wall will come into force on December 1st, enabling authorities to impose fines of up to £32,782.
© Adfero Ltd
The men, who tackled the wall with excavators, only narrowly avoided stringent new regulation to be introduced on December 1st, in a move to better protect the tourist attraction.
They were apparently using the 2,200-year old remains for landfill for a village factory.
Erhaihao village head Hao Zengjun reportedly told officials from the municipal office for cultural relics protection, "It's just a pile of earth".
The Great Wall is a United Nations World Heritage Site and stretches 4,000 miles across the country.
Tourists visiting China can access the tiny ten-kilometre stretch officially open to tourists at Badaling, near Beijing, which draws ten million visitors yearly.
The new laws will empower authorities to imprison people guilty of inflicting deliberate damage to cultural relics for up to ten years, while a fine specifically targeting people taking earth or bricks from the Great Wall will come into force on December 1st, enabling authorities to impose fines of up to £32,782.
© Adfero Ltd
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