Wartime Bullet Holes on the Great Wall to Be Protected in Government Facelift

Net users need not worry as Beijing will preserve and protect bullet holes and other historic scars on the Great Wall, a district cultural relics bureau said on Sunday.

When Beijing's Changping district kicked off a project to restore the Great Wall last month, net users queried the destiny of bullet holes left on the Great Wall during China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

Changping confirmed that they would preserve and protect the bullet holes during the project, Beijing Youth Daily reported Sunday.

The restoration project covers more than 1,000 meters of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall, including eight defence towers, according to Zhang Jianwei, head of the Changping administration of cultural relics. It is expected to finish in October next year.

The principle behind restoring the bullet holes is to preserve and protect them as they were, which also applies to other wartime remains, Zhang said.

"It was constructed to defend against invaders in the past, which shows Chinese people's pursuit of peace. We don't attack or invade others… Nowadays those bullet holes have already become a part of the Great Wall. Better protection of the wartime legacy will help us cherish peace," an anonymous industry insider from the Changping district museum told the Global Times on Sunday.

Bullet holes on the Great Wall in Changping are seen as precious reminders of the dreadful wartime experience of the Nankou Campaign.

Nankou, Beijing's gateway to northwestern China, was attacked by the Japanese invaders in 1937. The wall in Changping went on to stand witness to the whole war.

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Yang Guoqing, head of the Memorial Hall of Nankou Campaign, was among those who worried about the destiny of the bullet holes.

The holes are vivid, tangible evidence of war that enrich the history of the Changping Great Wall, Yang was quoted as saying by the Beijing Youth Daily. They deserved to be maintained in their original state.

Yang noted that he negotiated in advance for "many times" with a construction team working 2012-13 to preserve the Huanglouyuan Great Wall in Changping.

After they mistakenly filled in all the bullet holes, Yang went back to the team and they agreed to restore them.

"It's difficult to repair the Great Wall. But as long as we work together, we can leave this important historic information for our descendants," Yang said.

Since 2000, Beijing municipal government has invested about 470 million yuan ($68.1 million) in 96 Great Wall projects, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

In 2019, Beijing's Cultural Heritage Administration will launch 10 projects to reinforce the Great Wall and will formulate a five-year plan to assess the condition and risks of the Great Wall, according to the report.

This article originally appeared on the Global Times website