OOPS!! Chinese gold mining company accused of damaging Great Wall of China

A Chinese gold mining company reportedly ignored five warnings to stop knocking holes in the Inner Mongolia portion of the Great Wall of China.

RENO, NV - 

A section of the Great Wall of China dating from the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), which may have kept out raiders more than 2,000 years ago, has apparently met its match from prospectors reportedly working for the Hohhot Kekao Mining Company.

China's regional cultural relics bureau says Hohhot Kekao is suspected of destroying about 330 feet or 100 meters of the Great Wall while prospecting in Inner Mongolia. Only about two-thirds of the Great Wall remains intact in Inner Mongolia.

Investigators from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and police were at the site near the Inner Mongolia capital of Hohhot, gathering evidence concerning two holes, covering a total area of 300 square meters, had been knocked through the wall.

The damage is considered irreparable, Wang Dafang, director of the region's cultural relics department, told AFP. Wang claimed Hohhot Kekao Mining ignored five orders to stop operations and continued to dig the holes forcing the cultural relics office to report the case to regional police.

Police in Hohhot City, the capital of Inner Mongolia, are now gathering evidence. China is trying to preserve the monument, which in 2007 was included among the Seven Wonders of the World. New regulations that protect the wall from damage levy fines up to 500,000 yuan (US$73,000) or imprisonment of up to 10 years.

Five miners were jailed last year for damaging part of the Inner Mongolia wall, the Associated Press reported. Miners, road construction workers and villagers seeking building materials have contributed to the ongoing destruction of the Great Wall, according to official state news agency Xinhua.

The Great Wall of China was designated a World Heritage site by the United Nations' UNESCO organization in 1987. China has special laws to prevent damage to the 8851.8 kilometer wall across Northern China.

Dafang told the AP, "Some people think the only part of the Great Wall that needs to be protected is in Beijing. Although the Inner Mongolia wall is more modest, it carries the same significance."

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responses to this article

Donation I'm surprised that Ms Dorothy isn't calling for donations from the rest of the world to rebuild the Great Wall that was almost totally mangled and destroyed by the wretched gold miners by joe six on November 12 2009, 10:41 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

300 square miles?? Dat's one big hole. by Anterra on November 12 2009, 12:27 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Thanks Anterra for catching my error! I have fixed it, pronto! by Dorothy Kosich on November 12 2009, 15:09 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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