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- Chinese actor Yin Xiaotian has come under fire for dancing atop the high verge of China's Great Wall.
- He was reportedly filming a music video, but did not seek permission to do so, said Wall staff.
- The actor is seen in a video smiling and popping dance moves on top of the wall's verge.
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Chinese actor Yin Xiaotian has apologized for dancing on top of the Great Wall after a video surfaced online of him filming a music video there.
The online video shows Yin grinning and dressed in bright red, firing off a series of dance moves on the parapets alongside three other male dancers.
His routine on the ramparts has been widely lambasted on Chinese social media, with people saying he was disrespecting a treasured cultural symbol.
"This type of behavior is uncivilized and unsafe. What if someone were to imitate him?" said one user on social media platform Weibo.
"The Great Wall was built on the blood and sweat of the people from generation to generation, and now it is made to look so flippant," wrote another.
Yin and his crew visited the Great Wall as tourists, and had not sought permission from the authorities to film his music video there, said staffers, per local media. Activities like dancing atop the walls are not allowed, they added.
The actor apologized on Weibo to his 6.67 million followers, saying that he realized his mistake soon after jumping on the wall and came down.
"Please do not imitate my wrong behavior, abide by management regulations, and pay attention to safety!" he wrote.
The Great Wall of China is protected by a regulation act that prohibits tourists from taking away pieces of the wall, vandalizing it, or driving over any section with a vehicle, among other restrictions. Still, there have been widespread reports of vandalism and people stealing bricks in recent years.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Great Wall was built over hundreds of years to keep invaders out of China, and is one of the most famed military structures around the world.
In 2016, professional US basketballer Bobby Brown was criticized for signing his name and Houston Rockets jersey number on the wall. Brown, who now plays for the NBA G League, apologized for his actions.