Asian Insider Podcast
Restoring the Great Wall of China - and keeping it authentic
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A secret door along the Great Wall
ST PHOTO: FILE
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Synopsis: The Straits Times chats with ST’s foreign correspondents about life as it goes on, amid headlines and bubbling crises.
When a part of the Great Wall section in Liaoning started to crumble in 2016, authorities paved it over with cement to keep it safe, sparking outrage. Other sections had been transformed into tourist attractions complete with cable cars.
But China’s approach towards restoration has since been marked by a saying - “to go along with the layers, the slopes, the curves, the old and the dilapidated” - one tended to carefully by local villagers-turned-craftsmen.
In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying speaks to China Bureau Chief Tan Dawn Wei about how China’s attitudes towards historical heritage restoration have shifted, and why.
Highlights (click/tap above):
00:45 Three men, one mission
02:58 Thinking about heritage preservation
08:08 What the Great Wall means to younger Chinese
10:16 A China correspondent’s Great Wall climbs
Read Dawn’s article here: https://str.sg/FofV
Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR
Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x
Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters
Host: Li Xueying ( xueying@sph.com.sg
Edited by: Fa’izah Sani
Executive producer: Ernest Luis
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