The Great Wall, long synonymous with China itself, is struggling to cope with old age, a problem aggravated by deliberate human destruction.

On top of the centuries of ravaging by wind and rain, increasingly frequent deliberate damage is also causing concern: People steal bricks and stones to sell them or use them as building materials.

It has been reported in the mainstream media that about one-third of the 1,500-kilometre Great Wall in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, known as China's Museum of the Great Wall, has disappeared.

The section of the wall in this region was built between the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), mostly using clay.

"Some residents living nearby dig holes into the wall and use them as pigpens, sheepfolds, toilets, or even as homes," said Wei Zhong, deputy director of the local cultural heritage bureau.

But he added that the practice is being controlled as "a lot of efforts has been made to persuade those residents to move away."

The few who still stay are extremely poor people who cannot afford to move, Wei said.

But they have been replaced in the spotlight by devastating damage. Some companies have pulled down parts of the wall to benefit their own construction projects.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported this month that a part of the Great Wall stretching about 200 metres in Yanchi, a city in Ningxia, was broken in the middle by a construction company.

"The company gained approval to build a road through a natural breach in the wall that is metres away from the man-made opening," CCTV quoted Cheng Dalin, chairman of the Great Wall Research Institute, as saying.

"Simply to save money, the company chose to destroy the wall."

A survey conducted by the China Great Wall Society three years ago found that one-third of the wall no longer existed and another one-third was deteriorating.

"I believe the current situation is much worse," said Dong Yaohui, vice-chairman of the society.

Most domestic experts point out that most serious damage is the result of poor management, insufficient funding and little legal support.

Wei admitted that the Ningxia local government has never had a budget for protection of the Great Wall. "All we can do is to arrange more frequent scrutiny," he said.

But there are only six or seven men patrolling in each locality to keep an eye on the Great Wall, he added.

But there is some good news, a regulation to protect the Great Wall has been sent to the State Council for review and has been included in its working plan for this year, according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

But what should come first is to "conduct a thorough scientific investigation into the current Great Wall and find out about its situation," Dong and Wei stressed.

The Great Wall is the most well known landmark in China and one of the greatest feats of architectural engineering on the earth.

Emperor Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) unified ancient China in 221 BC and helped to establish the Great Wall.

(China Daily July 15, 2005)