Lierkou Great Wall, a section of wall relics, Tian county of Datong city, Shanxi province. [Photo / dt.gov.cn]

The city of Datong, Shanxi province, signed an agreement with the China Great Wall Association, on Oct 29, on preserving the Datong section of the Great Wall, with Cao Xuecheng, the vice-mayor signing for Datong, and Wu Guoqiang, General Secretary, signing for the association, with the added idea of building a Great Wall Museum and to encourage green work and ecological preservation to preserve the heritage for a tourist spot.

Local farmers herd their sheep at the site of the Great Wall relics, Datong city, Shanxi. [Photo by Lv Aiying / dt.gov.cn]

The association is a national heritage research and preservation organization and the two plan to combine resources and the economies of Shanxi and Hebei provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to turn Datong into a national Great Wall research center, and tourism center, in two or three years. The city hopes to help its economic, cultural and ecological development in this way.

The spring view of the site of the Great Wall, Shoukoubao Castle, in Datong city, Shanxi [Photo by Lv Aiying / dt.gov.cn]

The city was a strategic military town that was fought over by rival groups throughout history, because of its location on the border between different cultures, nomadic and agricultural, and it was quite prominent during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The city now has Great Wall relics from different dynasties covering 524 km, with about 426 km of it from the Ming, 37 km from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), 55 km, Warring States Period (475-221 BC), and 6 km, Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534). The relics deal with the entire construction history and most are well preserved, including 72 towers, making the city a virtual Great Wall museum. And, now, thanks to help from the association this valuable heritage will continue its journey through time.

The signing ceremony was joined by many CEOs of culture enterprises in Beijing, together with local governors.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw