Amidst news of Malaysia's extended MCO, a glimpse of hope rises from the country where it all begun with this pandemic. In its efforts to restore normalcy to its people, China has reopened a small section of its Great Wall to visitors on 24, March, Tuesday.
The Badaling section of the Great Wall that stretches from Bei Liu Lou to Nan Wu Lou Ban – the most popular section for tourists – has begun receiving visitors daily from 9am to 4pm.
The section of the wall, which is about 70km from Beijing, has been so popular that officials have capped visitors to 65,000 per day from June last year.
Chinese officials said in a statement that only 30% of the usual number of visitors will be allowed into the area for the time being. Visitors will need to book a ticket in advance, either on the on the Badaling Great Wall’s official website or through China’s WeChat app.
Visitors will also be required to register via a Health QR code on their AliPay or WeChat app connected to their identification card, which must indicate green, or healthy, before they are permitted entry. Visitors will also need to observe health safety measures such as temperature screening, wearing face masks and maintaining a distance of at least one metre from each other at all times.
Currently, all other sections of the Great Wall are closed, including the cable car and China Great Wall Museum in Badaling. Each year, over 10 million people visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site was closed to visitors on 25 January as the coronavirus epidemic began to spread.
Other tourist attractions throughout the country, including the Forbidden City complex in Beijing and Shanghai Disneyland, also remain closed. But the opening of China's iconic attraction is a great start to seeing things return to normalcy.
Source: CNN