China partly reopens iconic Great Wall to visitors as coronavirus eases


PTI | Beijing | Updated: 24-03-2020 17:26 IST | Created: 24-03-2020 17:13 IST
China partly reopens iconic Great Wall to visitors as coronavirus eases
Representative Image Image Credit: Wikimedia
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China on Tuesday reopened a section of its iconic Great Wall to visitors, as the country limped back to normalcy after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The Badaling section of the Great Wall will be open daily from 9 am to 4 pm. The daily number of visitors will be capped at 19,500. Around 60 kilometers from Beijing, it's the most popular section of the wall for tourists. As of 2 pm on Tuesday, a total of 892 tickets had been reserved by visitors to visit the area, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China in January closed all its museums and tourist centers all over the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. To be permitted entry, visitors must book tickets on the official website or through social media app WeChat in advance and register with their personal information to get a health code. On their arrival at the Badaling Great Wall, they will have their temperatures checked.

A one-way circular tour route has been designed to prevent the gathering of crowds. The cableway, the China Great Wall Museum, the ancient Great Wall and some other sections, however, will remain closed. The Badaling Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Beijing's Yanqing district. The scenic section received more than 9.9 million visitors in 2018. China on Tuesday announced that it will lift the three-month lockdown on more than 50 million people in the central Hubei province, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

There have been more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 in China and 3,277 deaths from the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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