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Army of tiny mites breaches ancient China city wall
Beijing (AFP) June 15, 2009 The city wall that has defended the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an for 1,400 years is being breached from the inside by tiny mites, state media reported on Monday. Experts involved in preservation work told Xinhua news agency they had discovered significant interior damage to the wall, considered one of the best preserved ancient city fortifications in the country. "The mites had lived and built their dens in the wall for a thousand years, and had eaten it away from the inside," it quoted Li Yuhu, an archaeologist working on the wall, as saying. The damage was discovered at one of the 18 gates, each of them eight metres (26 feet) high, that lead through the wall and into the centre of Xi'an, now the bustling capital of Shaanxi province in northwestern China. Experts have begun treating affected areas with a non-toxic insecticide and then shoring up the wall with a specially developed mite-resistant material. Xi'an is famed for a number of historical sites, most notably the world famous terracotta warriors found in the tomb of China's first emperor, a short drive from the city. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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