The city's ancient wall constructed at the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is not the place one would expect to see something as modern as a lift.

But experts, officials and citizens of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, are fiercely debating a tentative plan to install lifts and bridges to transport visitors over the wall.

The local government thinks the lifts and bridges would be very convenient for visitors to the wall and the beautiful Xuanwu Lake scenic area on the other side.

According to the plans, which have been on display since March 15, four bridges will be built between Shence Gate and Jiefang Gate.

Tourists can currently only access the Xuanwu Lake scenic area through three entrances, which are the ancient gates built into the wall.

"The bridges, either made of wood or steel, will be built crossing over the city wall. And on each side of the bridges, there will be lifts to send people on to the wall," Ye Bin, deputy director of Nanjing City Planning Bureau explained.

"Some other methods are also being considered to connect both sides of the city wall, for example, channels to be built underground," he added.

Since the city wall protection statutes forbid any construction being built within 15 metres of each side of the wall, Ye emphasized that the lifts would have to obey this directive.

Wu Mingwei, a professor from the Architecture Institute of the Southeast University in Nanjing, thinks the lifts and bridges are necessary.

"Xuanwu Lake is a very precious tourism resource in the city. It should be open to visitors, just like West Lake in Hangzhou," he said.

In his opinion, the bridges would allow easy access to the scenic area, meaning visitors would not be tired out by walking a long way around the wall.

Yang Xinhua, deputy director of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture, said the bridges would neither damage the city wall nor interfere with its protection.

Opposition to the plan

However, many experts are strongly against the plan.

Ji Shijia, a researcher at the provincial Academy of Social Sciences insisted that the Ming city wall should be protected and its integrity ensured.

"The wall is the most important feature of the Xuanwu Lake, which makes the scenic area special and different from other ones; nothing new should be added to it," the 72-year-old researcher said.

He also mentioned that such construction work may cause the wall to become unstable or even collapse.

Yang Guoqing, an expert on the wall, thinks lifts and bridges would destroy the atmosphere of the 600-year-old wall as a cultural relic.

"Compared with visitors' convenience, the city wall's environment, value and safety are much more important," he said.

Thousands of citizens have also taken part in the discussion by calling hotlines or filling out questionnaires drawn up by local media.

An investigation by the Jiangsu TV Station found 4,425 people supported the lifts and bridges plan while 9,115 objected to it.

Citizens' views

"Walking along the city wall is pleasant for many citizens. Therefore it is unnecessary to build such new constructions over the wall," said Wang Li, a school teacher who often brings her child to the wall.

"The bridges in the plan are too modern, and would look alien to the ancient style of the city wall," said a university student surnamed Chen.

"Besides, I have heard that the Ming city wall is going to seek a position in the World Cultural Heritage listings, so the government should protect it rather than building new constructions."

"Maybe passageways could be built underground, which will on the one hand provide convenience to visitors, but on the other hand not destroy the surrounding environment," said a middle-aged man who visited the city planning exhibition where the proposal was on display.

"But the architects should pay attention not to harm the protection of the city wall," he added.

In response, Ye Bin said both the opinions of experts and citizens would be considered.

He said a conference may be held in the near future where viewpoints would be noted and discussions held about the plan.

Nanjing is one of the first Chinese cities to allow construction plans to be reviewed by citizens.

The longest ancient city wall in the world, the Ming city wall stretched 33.676 kilometers in the 1950s. But only 23.743 kilometers are left because people stole bricks, built nearby and allowed it to fall into disrepair.

(China Daily March 30, 2005)