A question originally asked 500 years ago will be answered in
2008. A response to the poser - How long is the Great Wall? - will be answered by two
Chinese government departments.
A huge geographical survey of the Great Wall is to be undertaken
by China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) and the
State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.?
The work will be completed in 2007 and basic Great Wall
statistics including the length and layout would be released in
2008, said officials.?
Local governments have been gathering statistics on the Great
Wall since the 1980s. "But due to limited knowledge and technology
much of the Great Wall is still a mystery," said SACH director Shan
Qixiang.
"The government needs to organize a scientific survey so we can
have a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the Great Wall,"
added Shan.?
The departments will jointly establish a database based on the
results of their survey to facilitate future research and
protection of the Great Wall. Parts of the work have already
started in Hebei and Henan provinces.
The Great Wall was built in the Warring States Period (475-221
BC) when separate sections were built in strategic areas to defend
China against invasion by northern nomadic tribes. A large part of
it is located in poor and remote areas where few people reside. The
traditional estimate of length is 50,000 li or 25,000
kilometers.
The main remnants of the Great Wall were rebuilt in the Ming
(1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Together they were
estimated at about 6,700 kilometers.
The Great Wall is generally considered to start at Jiayuguan
Pass in Gansu Province and stretches to Shanhaiguan Pass on the
shores of Bohai Bay in the east but no one knows exactly the
ancient wonder's length.
Scientists and historians say they'll focus their work on the
part of the Great Wall which was built during the Ming Dynasty.
Records show the Ming portion of the structure meandered through
China's Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia
and Gansu provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. This
section has been estimated at 5,660 km in length.
However, experts have advised that only 30 percent of the Ming
sections are still standing. Dong Yaohui, deputy president of the
China Great Wall Association, said that less than 20 percent of the
Ming period Great Wall was reasonably well protected.
As nature and human activity continue to take their toll on the
Great Wall the Chinese government has increased efforts to protect
the unique historical relic.
On Tuesday they issued a regulation to further protect the Great
Wall. It bans all types of vandalism, driving on the structure,
removing soil or stonework and building anything on it that’s not
designed to protect the relic.?
(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2006)
