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Great Wall restoration goes back to basics

Traditional methods are now being used to repair China's best-known landmark

For three years, workers have been restoring the Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China. They use traditional bricks, basic tools, mules to carry building materials up to the wall, and stones from the original structure.
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
A worker inspecting a restored part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in May. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
An aerial picture taken in May showing the Great Wall in Mutianyu in Huairou district. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
A villager at a paved-over section of the wall in Suizhong, Liaoning province, in September 2016. Restoration of a 700-year-old section of the wall sparked an uproar among netizens in 2016 after the local authorities covered it in concrete, turning it into a smooth, flat-topped path. Known as one of the most beautiful portions of the “wild”, unrestored wall, the 8km Xiaohekou stretch in Liaoning was built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Apart from a motorised winch to lift old stone blocks, workers use basic tools like shovels and hammers, and bricks made using traditional methods. ST PHOTO: DANSON CHEONG
A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to “guide restoration work”, after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfigured parts of the wall. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
The 10.5km Jiankou stretch of the Great Wall used to be crumbling and dilapidated. This stretch is in a mountainous part of Beijing’s Huairou district, and mules are used to carry the mortar and bricks up to the foot of the wall. ST PHOTO: DANSON CHEONG
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
Apart from a motorised winch to lift old stone blocks, workers use basic tools like shovels and hammers, and bricks made using traditional methods. ST PHOTO: DANSON CHEONG
Right: A worker at part of the Great Wall in Xiangshuihu in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on May 17. This year, Beijing launched a national-level plan to "guide restoration work", after criticism that shoddy work in the past had disfig
Workers painstakingly reinstalling large stones that had fallen off at a restored part of the wall in Xiangshuihu. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Danson Cheong China Correspondent In Beijing
Updated
Jul 30, 2019, 06:07 AM
Published
Jul 30, 2019, 05:00 AM
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The dirt road leading to the Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China stops about 1,300m from the summit.

Here, at the start of a windy mountain track, the only way up is on foot. Bricks and sacks of mortar are loaded on a pack of mules, which trudge up towards the ridge.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 30, 2019, with the headline Great Wall restoration goes back to basics. Subscribe

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