"The reason for the fake Truong Thanh" as tourists call it is a walking path in the Xixiaguaishiling Ecological Park in Nam Xuong. The project is built on a 4 km long hill, parts of which are separated by watchtowers, like the "ft-oning" Imperial Citadel of Beijing.
The Global Times reported that many Chinese netizens believe that the historical heritage of the Great Wall has become too famous, making the modern replica such as in suong meaningless. However, others believe that it will be a good thing if inspiration from the Great Wall stimulates local tourism.
"It's a waste of money to make this poor quality replication. We have Van Ly Truong Thanh" - a net user named Niu commented.
"How many Van Ly Truong Thanh across the country are truly ancient? What you can see at the Great Wall in Beijing is real history. What you have in the Ly Truong Thanh Palace in suong is the convenience to experience the Ly Truong Thanh Palace without having to leave your local city" - commented another netizen named Xiaolizi.
Others are concerned that the wall could damage the local ecological environment.
"It could destroy local ecosystems and affect wildlife on both sides of the wall," commented a netizen named Caishenjie.
The person in charge of the shopping department of the scenic spot, surnamed Yu, told the Global Times, that the so-called "Fake Van Ly Truong Thanh" was built to prevent forest fires.
Yu said: "More than 70% of the landscape area is forest. To protect tourists and provide them with a more comfortable experience, we decided to build a forest fire fence simulating the Great Wall".
The project began construction in 2013 and was completed in 2018 with an investment capital of more than 100 million yuan (14.6 million USD).
"We have never intended to promote it as 'okay' by Van Ly Truong Thanh. This name actually comes from the word of the word of the tourists. Most tourists are attracted to our scenic spots, because sometimes it is not very convenient to go to Beijing to visit the Great Wall of China - Yu said.
During the International Labor Day holiday on May 1, this scenic spot recorded 40,000 visits, and recorded the highest number of 70,000 visits on other holidays.
The scenic spot currently has about 650,000 visitors per year, an increase of 10 times since the walking path was built.
Yu said that the construction of the fake "Van Ly Truong Thanh" has been approved by relevant agencies, in response to netizens' concerns that it could harm the ecological environment.
"To minimize damage to the forest and nearby plantations, we used rafts to transport rocks throughout the construction process for up to 6 years," Yu said.
