Built over centuries, spanning thousands of kilometers of deserts and mountains, the Great Wall may have protected China from Northern invaders, but is now under threat from both man and nature. According to Chinese experts over two/third of it have already disappeared, while the rest could soon follow the same path. Serious efforts are now being done to protect and restore it.

A group of Beijing women has come for a Sunday yoga class on a renovated part of the Great Wall. The Great Wall is not only a place for hikers and tourists. Rave parties, fashion shows, corporate events use it as an attractive backdrop, sometimes cr

A herder on the Great Wall near Datong (Shanxi) as his sheep are coming back from grazing. Farm animals contribute to the Great Wall deterioration.

Herders standing on the Great Wall near Datong (Shanxi). In this region, the wall is made of soil and has been eroded over the years by wind and rain while farming activities have accelerated the process.

An eroded Great Wall marks the border between Shanxi and Inner Mongolia.

Vegetation now covers the Great Wall West of Datong (Shanxi).

A tourist has climbed on a crumbling watchtower of the Great Wall at the border between Hebei and Liaoning provinces. Hikers are contributing to the rapid deterioration of the Great Wall and authorities have started to restrict access to certain par

A woman walking on a portion of the Great Wall covered with cement in Liaoning Province. This stretch of the wall dating back 700 years ago, was covered with cement in a badly inspired intent to repair it, creating a backlash from conservationists a

In Shanxi province, an entertainment park has been created at the foot of the Great wall in a bid to attract tourists. Giant corn knobs and fake Dutch windmills, used for selfies are now part of what was a beautiful landscape.

At Sanhaiguan (Hebei) a giant Chinese red flag marks the Eastern end of the Great Wall where it falls into the Bohai sea. This is the place where the Manchus invaded China defeating the Ming dynasty in 1644. The Great Wall, the biggest man-made mili

Cable-cars running above crowds of tourists at Badaling, the most visited site of the Great Wall a UNESCO protected World Heritage. UNESCO criticized the installation of cable-cars and a tobogan at Badaling expressing concerns that “the authenticity

Graffiti on a watch tower of the Great Wall near Badaling. Unchecked over-tourism has left its mark on the construction. Signs asking vistors to “Protect the Great Wall” have now been placed at many locations and people caught defacing the wall risk

A gate of the fortified village of Zhumapu (Shanxi) in ruin. Villagers along the Great Wall have have for decades used the fortification as a source of bricks for their own constructions accelerating its demise. Locals see little value in what was a

An architect, professor at Beijing University, is flying a drone for a 3D mapping of a part of the Great Wall under renovation, near Badaling (Beijing). Great amounts efforts and money have been invested recently to preserve and restore the Great Wa

A gate enclosing the restoration site of a tower at the fortified village of Zhenbian (Shanxi). Zhenbian was a garrison village for the protection of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty. Many inhabitants of the village are descendants of the sold

Architects inspecting restoration work on a watch tower near Badaling (Beijing). Renovation and preservation of the Great Wall now use as much as possible the stones originally used for its construction centuries ago. The techniques are also similar

Inhabitants of the fortified village Xinpingbao (Shanxi) under the drum tower dating back from the XVth century. This garrison village by the Great Wall has been left out of China’s economic development over the past decades and life hasn’t changed

An elderly sitting next to a portrait of Chairman Mao dating back from the Cultural Revolution, in the fortified village Ninglupu were garrison soldiers manning the Wall were living. During the Ming dynasty many settlements along the Great Wall were

Medals embossed with an image of the Great Wall on one side and Chairman Mao on the other, sold as souvenirs at Badaling (Beijing). The Great Wall is not only a tourist destination but also a symbol of the country and a source of great pride.

Tourists enjoy a day by the sea at Sanhaiguan (Hebei), the most Oriental part of the Great Wall where it falls into the Bohai Sea. Not much was left of the Great Wall there when it was rebuilt in the 80s and 90s with little consideration for histori

A man sitting next to a poor replica of the Great Wall decorated with a naval warship, in Qinhuangdao (Hebei). While the real Great Wall was falling into disrepair, repilcas have been built in numerous place, mainly in a bid to attract tourists. Som

The abandoned construction site for a failed tourist resort at the foot of the Great Wall in Dongjiakou (Hebei). Some tourist developments near the relic, have disfigured a beautiful natural and historic site. Some rules forbid such endeavours, howe

Inhabitants of Zhenbian fortified village taking the sun by the old wall, on a newly built street. Many of the locals have been resettled outside the old village which has been turned into a tourist site.

On a barren mountain of Ningxia, a portion of the Great Wall is slowly disappearing into the landscape, eroded by centuries of strong wind, desertification and flash floods. The Great Wall span such great distances and the forces of nature are so st

Aerial view of the Great Wall at Jiankou (Beijing), one of the most spectacular Great Wall site. Jiankou has been the focus of great preservation efforts which are still on-going. Restoration has been been mixing the traditional way of building the

A tourist at Badaling Great Wall (Beijing)

The Great Wall at Jiankou (Beijing). No efforts have been spared to preserve the wall at one of its most spectacular site. The wall wasn’t rebuilt as new, instead the ruins were frozen, ensuring they wouldn’t deteriorate any further while preservin

Staged Reality

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