A helicopter has joined the protection of the Great Wall for the first time in history, said Dong Yaohui, vice chairman of the Great Wall Association in Beijing last Friday.

The helicopter will be used to inspect and take pictures of the Beijing section of the Great Wall from air, which runs for 629 kilometers in six districts.

Dong said the association is expected to start building a database of the Great Wall early next year and the pictures and videos shot by the onboard remote sensing instruments will be of great importance.

At a value of 17 million yuan (about US$2.1 million), the helicopter was imported from the United States by Beijing Capital General Aviation Co., which has donated it to the Great Wall Association of China.

"With the help of the helicopter, we hope to better protect the Great Wall from natural and man-made devastation," said Dong.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2005)