Renovation work to transform institution into top-quality national venue
Mist lingers over the Great Wall in Miyun district, Beijing, and Luanping county, Hebei province. (CHEN YEHUA / XINHUA)
The Great Wall, which has a total length of more than 21,000 kilometers and stands as a symbol of the Chinese nation, has been the subject of numerous legends over the centuries.
To offer a new perspective of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the China Great Wall Museum, which stands at the foot of the structure's Badaling section in Yanqing district, Beijing, is being given a major face-lift.
Strengthening public participation is the development trend for world cultural heritage site protection in the modern era. I hope that by upgrading our museum, more members of the public can become involved with the venue.
Wei Hua, assistant curator of the China Great Wall Museum
Wei Hua, 43, assistant curator of the museum, said: "The Great Wall has been preserved for generations. As someone who was born and raised in this area, I hope our generation can make more efforts to protect the wall and better integrate the lives of those living near it with the structure's deep-rooted culture."
After the renovation work is completed, the museum is expected to stand on an area of 16,000 square meters.
Wei said the museum was closed on April 6, and by June 22, its 5,741 cultural relics had been relocated to nearby district cultural institutions in Yanqing.
Wei speaks about the venue with pride. Built in 1994, it is a third-grade national museum constructed as part of the patriotic campaign "Love China, Preserve the Great Wall" launched by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1984.
Located on a 10-meter-high terrace in a valley, the museum is about 400 meters from the entrance to the Badaling Great Wall. However, it attracts far fewer visitors than the wall.
Wei said that in 2019, before the pandemic emerged, the Badaling Great Wall welcomed some 10.35 million visitors, compared with 460,000 at the museum.
"A rough estimate showed us that only 8 percent of visitors to the wall's Badaling section visited our museum, which prompted the renovation work," he added.
Archaeologists clean unearthed relics at a Great Wall renovation site in Huairou district, Beijing, last year. (CHEN ZHONGHAO / XINHUA)
Public participation
Overall planning for the museum improvements began at the start of 2020.
Tang Yuyang, a professor at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, who is responsible for the design of the upgraded venue, spent a year from August 2020 drafting the renovation plans.
"A museum at a World Heritage Site is vital in providing an insight into learning about such a venue. However, the floor area and exhibitions at the China Great Wall Museum were far from meeting the requirements for such a site," Tang said.
The main aim of the face-lift is to better showcase the history of the Great Wall and to house artifacts found on the structure from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Tang said: "People are aware of the Great Wall, but few understand its heritage. Tourists come to Badaling intending to climb the wall. A well-established museum with a viewing platform for the Great Wall can attract tourists."
In view of the proximity of the museum and the Great Wall, Tang said heritage protection rules are being strictly observed.
"After the museum is upgraded, its overall area will not exceed the existing space. We have submitted a report to the World Heritage Committee, explaining our approach to renovating the museum," she said.
Tang cited the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, as setting a good example. Situated near the foot of the Acropolis, with a direct view of the Parthenon, the museum stands on an extensive archaeological site, where visitors view excavations below through a glass floor.
"The New Acropolis Museum pays full respect to the historic environment through rigorous and meticulous design, making the 25,000-square-meter facility the best choice for interpreting the value of the Acropolis," Tang said.
"It also prompted us to decide that no matter what type of design approach we adopted, our museum and the Great Wall landscape needed to be combined."
Wei said design proposals started for the China Great Wall Museum were first sought in April, and the full process took three months. The renovation aims to transform the institution into a top-quality national museum.
Three main areas of the venue will be open to the public after the renovation－an exhibition hall, a visitors' center and a Great Wall international research and exchange institute, Wei said.
He added that after the renovation, the museum also plans to focus on research to carry forward the "Great Wall spirit" and enhance the institution's research, education and communication functions. The aim is to turn the site into a center for monitoring Great Wall heritage, experiencing the wall's culture, exhibiting the structure's intangible cultural heritage, and developing related cultural and creative products.
"Strengthening public participation is the development trend for world cultural heritage site protection in the modern era," Wei said. "I hope that by upgrading our museum, more members of the public can become involved with the venue."
Staff members from the China Great Wall Museum pack exhibits before the start of renovation work. (HAN JIE / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Long history
Among the projects scheduled for the museum upgrading, the most compelling is an exhibition of the Great Wall's history.
As a defense against nomadic groups in the northern region of ancient China, the wall was built by generations of Chinese dating to the Warring States Period, when the Qi state constructed walls made of hard-packed soil to defend its borders in what is now Shandong－province.
During the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), Qinshihuang, the first Chinese emperor, restored, connected and accelerated construction of large parts of the wall built during the Warring States Period. He also extended the border to the north to protect his territory.
In 141 BC, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) took power, he sent generals and troops to defend territory against the northern nomadic Xiongnu people. He also extended the Great Wall and built beacon towers on the structure.
In the following 1,000 years, emperors strengthened and improved the wall, mainly to ward off northern invaders. Parts of it were renovated as building techniques progressed.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), construction of the wall reached a peak, with stones, marble blocks and granite being used. Watchtowers and platforms were also built.
Dong Yaohui, deputy chairman of the China Great Wall Association, said, "Historically, the Great Wall prevented the number and scale of wars, forming a great defense against opposing armies.
"As civilization progressed, the wall had a reduced military function. It played a much bigger role in strengthening the connection between farmers and nomads.
"The Great Wall is a spiritual icon for Chinese people, but most of them are not familiar with its historical development and its connection with our nation. The wall deserves a well-considered plan to showcase these features."
Dong, 65, said experts from the Capital Museum in Beijing have started to research the main arrangements for exhibits at the renovated site, adding that he hopes the cultural value and spirit of the Great Wall can be better explained.
From May 1984 to September the following year, Dong walked for more than 6,000 km on the wall to inspect the structure. He found that only 513 km of the wall were well preserved and that many sections had experienced long-time erosion.
"I felt heartbroken at the time, and came to fully understand the reality of the damaged sections of the wall," he said.
Dong, who spent years compiling the book Chronicles of the Great Wall, called nearly 40 years ago for more members of his association to safeguard the structure.
Workers repair a damaged section of the Great Wall in Huairou last year. (CHEN ZHONGHAO / XINHUA)
Efforts rewarded
These protection efforts have paid off. In 1984, the local authorities named the 520-km-long Beijing section of the wall as a city-level historical and cultural site.
Since 2000, the city has invested nearly 470 million yuan ($70 million) in 96 projects to protect this section of the wall, according to the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau.
A local regulation on protecting the wall, drafted and passed by the Beijing municipal government in May 2003, took effect on Aug 1 that year. As the first provision in China to preserve the wall, the regulation stipulates the protection scope for the structure and also states that those who interfere with it will be held legally accountable.
In 2019, the authorities announced a plan to protect and develop the Beijing section of the Great Wall, proposing that by 2035 the structure and its ancillary buildings should be free of danger.
At national level, the central authorities announced a plan in December 2019 to establish Great Wall cultural parks, with the China Great Wall Museum named as one of the leading projects.
Residents living near the wall have been dedicated to protecting it for years. Mei Jingtian, 78, who is nearly deaf, climbed the structure near his village of Shixia, Yanqing, when he was in his 30s to pick up refuse left by visitors.
Mei inspected the wall near-Shixia every 20 days for 40 years.
He also volunteered to locate cultural relics on the structure－using a metal detector during his inspections－and is excited to talk about an iron Ming Dynasty wok he discovered about 20 years ago.
"I climbed a beacon tower that day, and the detector I was holding beeped. I thought I had found a stone shell used by soldiers in ancient times, but when I dug up the dirt, I found the wok, which was a great surprise," Mei said.
He was hired as a Great Wall caretaker by the local government in 2006, and has been awarded numerous honors by the cultural relics protection department for his efforts to preserve the structure over the years.
Even though he is now in his late 70s, Mei continues to patrol the wall. When he meets people for the first time, he immediately takes out his phone and shows them pictures he has taken on the landmark from dawn to dusk.
He loves the Great Wall. It enriches his life, and because he lives at the foot of it, Mei has got to know different people and increased his perspective of the world.
Peaceful development
The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, and the Badaling section has been visited by more than 500 heads of state since 1954.
Dong, from the China Great Wall Association, said, "The wall is a window for all countries in the world to understand China. It can explicitly convey Chinese people's vision for peaceful development, and the spirit of being brave and tenacious.
"The core values of our nation can strengthen Chinese people's confidence. A profound culture also unites our people. The Great Wall has witnessed the peace we've built over the years ... which is of great value and significance to our nation."
As a result, the renovation work at the China Great Wall Museum should emphasize more of the wall's spiritual value and tell the Chinese nation's 5,000-year story, Dong said.
