CHALLENGING TARGET: Outdoor adventurers visit a ruined section of the Great Wall in Huailai County, north China's Hebei Province, on August 28, 2010 (CFP)

In 1987, the Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage site by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It was also declared one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in July 2007 after a global poll initiated the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a private organization.

"The Great Wall is a priceless treasure the ancient Chinese left to the world. Its value exceeds a simple military project and is regarded as an artwork with high cultural value. It represents the highest-level wisdom of human beings," said Dong Yaohui, Vice President of the China Great Wall Society.

Threatened survival

However, despite its fame and glory, more sections of the Great Wall are disappearing and the conservation situation is becoming worse.

"Natural forces as well as human activities pose serious threats to existing Great Walls," Dong warned, adding that the rate of restoration has been outpaced by organic erosion and human destruction.

According to the SACH survey report, only 8.2 percent of the wall built during the Ming Dynasty remains intact so far, 74.1 percent is in poor condition, and in some sections, only its foundation can be spotted.

"The preservation of the Great Wall's relics should not be delayed," the report said.

Dong suggested that different measures, including legal ones, should be considered to further promote the preservation of the Great Wall.

On July 6-12, a group of historians and cultural relics experts, investigated the condition of the Great Wall in Gansu that holds an estimated 3,600-km-long Great Wall built in different dynasties. They visited 10 major sites in five cities, including Dingxi, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Jiuquan, and were shocked by the condition of the Great Wall, built in Qin, Han and Ming dynasties.

Unlike eastern parts of the Great Wall in Beijing, Hebei and Liaoning, which were mostly constructed with stones and bricks, the sections in Gansu were built with tamped earth. After centuries of erosion from fierce wind and frequent sandstorms, they have become extremely fragile.