On March 17, Badaling Great Wall special district office received an unexpected special gift: a piece of the Great Wall and a letter of apology from a young boy from abroad.

The extremely special delivery came in a posted parcel on which there was nearly illegible Chinese. According to Zhao Xinzhong, the clerk of the office who received the package, he was surprised when opening it and found it contained something like an old brick. He read the attached letter: a Chinese Canadian boy (his father's family was from Hong Kong) had traveled to China with a group of Chinese Canadians who went to find their family roots. He had never been to China before and was excited when he came to the Great Wall. There he found a piece of the wall and decided to bring it back to Canada as souvenir from his trip. In time though his father discovered what he had done, and furious, told him to return it with an apology.

Last autumn there was a similar situation when a young Japanese boy traveled to the Badaling Great Wall and being excited, couldn't help carving his name on it. After returning home he told his father about it. To his surprise, his father was very angry, and got in touch with the Badaling Great Wall special district office to show his willingness to erase the words with a generous donation. He sent a letter of apology too.

Of these events, a reporter with the Beijing Star Daily made an interview with a principal of Beijing Historical Relics Institute. The principal pointed out that the Great Wall not only belongs to China, but also belongs to the world because it is a world heritage site that gives evidence of the antiquities of man. However, the Great Wall is first and foremost a Chinese heirloom and needs the love and respect of all of who visit it.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, March 20, 2003)