Yanqing : Polishing the Pearl on the cultural belt of the Great Wall (2)

|ChinaNews|2020-10-13 17:06:39

Ecological protection brings vitality back to Yanqing

Yanqing : polishing the Pearl on the cultural belt of the Great Wall (2)_fororder_1_meitu_1

The Great Wall winds up and down green hills [Photo by Zhang Yan]

With the vicissitudes of time, the Jiuyan Tower has lost its defensive function as a watchtower. On the top of the Flaming Mountain, the Jiuyan Tower has experienced hundreds of years of wind and rain, the bricks and stones slowly fall off, and the walls gradually collapse. Since 2000, the cultural relics departments of Beijing and Yanqing District have invested more than 21 million yuan in archaeological excavation and emergency repair of Jiuyan Tower and its military camp site, basically eliminating the danger of Jiuyan Tower and its military camp site. In 2000, Sihai town invested in cleaning up the surroundings of Jiuyan Tower and unearthed more than 10 inscriptions on the Great Wall. In 2005, the cultural relics department carried out emergency repair on the body of Jiuyan Tower.

From April to May 2006, Beijing Municipal Administration of cultural heritage excavated and cleaned up the military camp site of Flaming Mountain. It revealed a large area of associated building base sites, cleaned up the Temple and the North watchtower. The actual excavation area was more than 1600 square meters. More than 500 pieces of door plaques, weapons, stone tools, porcelain and various building components were unearthed, and the site was protected. 

From 2013 to 2017, Beijing Municipal Administration of cultural heritage implemented the emergency repair project of the Great Wall which contains Jiuyan Tower (No. 108-110 watchtower) and the Military Camp site protection project of Flaming Mountain. The implementation of these projects has created favorable conditions for the protection and utilization of the Jiuyan Tower.

Recently, the emergency reinforcement project of the North platform of Jiuyan Tower and the west wall of Military Camp was completed. The project lasted more than three months. and a total of 20 meters long, 5 meters wide, 5 meters high wall repair work and 32 square meters platform area collapse repair work. A total of 20 meters long, 5 meters wide, 5 meters high wall, and a 32 square meters platform area collapse repair work has been completed.

In the past 20 years, the cultural heritage sector has never stopped repairing the Jiuyan Tower and its Military Camp. Nowadays, climbing to the Jiuyan Tower, the Tower stands tall, the wind whistling through the arrow window. Overlooking the verdant mountains, the Great Wall stays ups and downs along the mountain, the feeling of vicissitudes of life arises naturally. The tower, which has stood for more than 500 years, silently tells of the diligence and wisdom of the laboring people in ancient China.

The steep walls lead straight to the site of Military Camp. The site has an irregular rectangular plane. The west wall is about 100 meters long, the north wall is about 45 meters long, and the south wall is about 50 meters long. The camp covers an area of about 2,500 square meters, all of which are built of rubble and stone. There is a gate on the wall of the north city.On the gate, there is a tablet inscribed with two characters, wai Yan, inscribed in regular script. The upper part is hu Li, the imperial envoy huailong soldier Anchashi, and the closing is the words "Autumn Auspicious Dan, The fifth day of Wanli (1618). Today, only the base of the camp is left, and the living pattern of the soldiers guarding the border hundreds of years ago can be faintly discernable from the cornerstones.

Jiuyan Tower and Military Camp are hidden among mountains and forests. While protecting and repairing Jiuyan Tower and Military Camp, the staff of the cultural heritage sector also carried out special protection for the ecological environment of the Flaming Mountain area to ensure that the impact of the project on the surrounding ecological environment is minimized.The exhibition area of the JiuyanTower Ecological Great Wall covers a total area of 112.23 hectares, including 106.18 hectares of forest, with the forest coverage rate reaching 94.6 percent. The total forest stock is 14,320.04 m3, the total forest biomass is 15,174.84 tons, the total forest carbon reserve is 7,587.42 tons, the forest stock per unit area is 134.87 m3 / ha, the forest biomass per unit area is 142.92 tons/ha, and the forest carbon reserve per unit area is 71.46 tons/ha, which are all higher than the average level of Beijing.

Walking into the exhibition area, all kinds of trees are crisscrossed and lush, with 164 species of plants distributed in 119 genera and 60 families around the walking path. The unique natural conditions also attract many creatures to live here. In the Exhibition area of Jiuyan Tower ecological Great Wall, a complete set of the biological chain makes the ecological effect of the exhibition area fully demonstrated. The exhibition area of the Jiuyan Tower ecological Great Wall integrates humanity and nature harmoniously.