Restoring War Camps for Tourists

The century-old military camps left behind by the Eight-Power Allied Forces at the eastern end of the Great Wall will be restored to attract more tourists, Xinhua news agency reported.

Qinhuangdao, a coastal city close to Beijing in Hebei Province, will invest some 70 million yuan (US$8.4 million) to repair the military camps, a hotel, and a railroad for horse-driven trains built by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in Laolongtou at Shanhaiguan Pass, the only sea pass of the Great Wall.

In 1900, the allied forces made up of over 2,000 soldiers from Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy and Austria gunned their way into Beijing from here and looted the 3,000-year-old city, in the name of protecting foreign embassies.

(Eastday.com 03/05/2001)