Scribbling on Great Wall draws outrage
Netizens call for harsh punishment on overseas tourists for defacing sites
Photos of some words in foreign languages including Korean and English scribbled on China’s Badaling Great Wall went viral recently, with most Chinese netizens calling for harsh punishment for the uncivil behavior of overseas tourists.
The online photos show stones of the Great Wall covered with graffiti and words not only in Chinese but also in foreign languages, mostly English and some Korean, and some English words are scribbled at the most prominent locations, huanqiu. com reported.
Most netizens on Sina Weibo complained that some Western countries have long decried Chinese tourists for bad behavior, without realizing that their tourists are also damaging their image while traveling in China.
Some netizens also called for harsh punishment for the overseas tourists engaged in such behavior.
In 2016, NBA Houston Rockets player Bobby Brown wrote his name on the Great Wall. Photos of his writing went viral on Chinese social media, provoking outrage among netizens who criticized Brown for defacing the most famous heritage site and complained about allowing him to get away with it.
He Xinyu, an expert on the Great Wall protection at the Ningxia Museum in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, told the Global Times on Wednesday that relevant laws and regulations in China in terms of relics protection are much less strict than those in foreign countries.
Egypt hands violators a fine of up to $ 100,000 and even life imprisonment, and Japanese laws stipulate that anyone who inscribes on relics would face a prison sentence of up to five years and would receive a fine of up to 300,000 yen ($ 2,704), thepaper. cn reported. The Great Wall protection regulations formulated by the Beijing government in 2003 stipulate a fine of only 200 yuan to 500 yuan ($ 74) and no jail sentence, it said.
In terms of monitoring, the management department of the Beijing Badaling Special Administrative Region Office told the Global Times on Wednesday that more than 300 surveillance cameras are installed in the scenic areas and an inspection team has been conducting daily inspection in the area to prevent tourist graffiti.
The office also broadcasts the harmful impact of graffiti and inscription every day on loudspeakers in the scenic areas.
Dong Yaohui, deputy head of the Great Wall Society of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the scribbling by Chinese citizens on ancient buildings has greatly decreased in recent years due to the implementation of relevant relic protection rules and media supervision.
“Civic education, not punishment, can eliminate bad behavior. Only when social consciousness about the protection of relics is raised can we better protect our ancient buildings and cultural relics,” said Dong.