Mapping experts have discovered 43,721 sites related to China’s most iconic historical landmark.
The Great Wall extends across the Chinese countryside Image: Matt512 |
Back in 2008, a highway construction team in Shaanxi province unintentionally excavated a previously unknown section of an ancient wall, only 30cm high. The find sparked a full-scale archaeological survey of the surrounding areas and provinces by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
The results show the Great Wall of China is more than twice as long as previously believed. The latest survey measures the Wall at 21,196.18 kilometres, almost 2.4 times as long as the previous estimate of 8,851.8 km.
The wall is one of the nation’s most popular tourist attractions and is often inundated with both Chinese and foreign tourists alike. To cope with rising demand, the Beijing municipal government has now opened two newly restored sections of the wall: Huanghuacheng and Hefangkou.
Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, started major construction on the wall in the third century BC, although some sections of the massive barrier date back as early as 770BC. To this day, the Great Wall is still the largest single manmade construction on the planet.