Posted on 07/03/2015 12:01:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Construction first begun in the third century BC, but nearly 6,300 kilometres were built in the Ming Dynasty of 1368-1644, including the much-visited sectors north of the capital Beijing. Of that, 1,962 kilometres has withered away over the centuries, the Beijing Times reported.
Some of the construction weathered away, while plants growing in the walls have accelerated the decay, said the report Sunday, citing a survey last year by the Great Wall of China Society. "Even though some of the walls are built of bricks and stones, they cannot withstand the perennial exposure to wind and rain," the paper quoted Dong Yaohui, a vice president of the society, as saying. "Many towers are becoming increasingly shaky and may collapse in a single rain storm in summer." Tourism and local residents' activities are also damaging the longest human construction in the world, the paper added.
Poor villagers in Lulong county in the northern province of Hebei used to knock thick grey bricks from a section of wall in their village to build homes, and slabs engraved with Chinese characters were sold for 30 yuan ($4.80) each by local residents, it said. Under Chinese regulations people who take bricks from the Great Wall can be fined up to 5,000 yuan, the state-run Global Times said Monday. "But there is no specific organisation to enforce the rules. Damage could only be reported to higher authorities and it is hard to solve when it happened on the border of two provinces," said Jia Hailin, a cultural relics protection official in Hebei, according to the report. It added that explorations of undeveloped parts of the Great Wall -- an increasingly popular leisure activity in recent years -- had brought those sections more tourists than they could bear, damaging them severely.
(Excerpt) Read more at indiatimes.com ...
I loves my BBQ pit! These bricks hold heat for hours. As an added benefit, it even repels barbarians!
Well, Mitt could be counted on to take the leftmost position. Trump might. So yea. Chaos is the greater of the evils because you just don’t know WHAT he’d do. Lex Luthor vs. the Joker.
Sorry, 7.62 short.
I A lways K now that the gift will keep giving.
So basically nature?
The bricks are made out of mud held together with, I believe, rice starch.
Thanks WKTimpco!
Government, is there anything it can’t ruin?
If too much of it is removed, would that make it the not so great wall?
When spiritual values are destroyed this is what you have left... It's sad.
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