Great Wall graffiti gets free hand

Words that tourists left on Mutianyu,a famous section of the Great Wall.[Photo/icpress]

Meanwhile, the cultural relics protection department was ordered to restore the defaced buildings.

Yet graffiti has remained a problem in Mutianyu, administrators said.

To solve it, they established a free graffiti zone for tourists in the No 14 Fighting Tower building. "As many tourists like to carve words on buildings, we will develop the graffiti writing area as a new scenic spot of Mutianyu," said a director of the administration office.

The office said it plans to set up two more areas, in fighting towers No 5 and No 10 for tourists to carve or write their names in the future.

An electronic graffiti board is also being considered, it said.

The new policy gives visitors inclined to improperly leave their names an approved place to do so, which will better protect the ancient buildings of Mutianyu in the long run, said a publicity official, surnamed Wen, of Huairou district.

Xu Fan, a member of the panel of tourism experts of the World Tourism Organization, said that designating an area for graffiti was acceptable. But she questioned the plan to add more such areas and said an electric board for graffiti writing was a better choice.

Signage is also good, Xu said: "In current areas where tourists carve words spontaneously, the administrators should also set up signs to guide people to the newly established graffiti writing area."