China To Measure The Great Wall

BBC ^ | 2-12-2007

[blam]

China to measure the Great Wall

The structure is a series of walls first linked up over 2,000 years ago

Researchers are to carry out the first detailed survey of the Great Wall of China to establish just how long the ancient barricade is, Xinhua reports. Along with checking its dimensions the four-year study, which starts in May, will map the wall's exact route.

And it will check the condition of the fortification, built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire.

The wall, the world's largest man-made structure, is estimated at over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) in length.

The study will be conducted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping in 13 provinces, regions and municipalities, the Xinhua official news agency said.

Archaeologists had lobbied for the survey to be done to provide scholars with an accurate understanding of the construction.

Known to the Chinese as the "long Wall of 10,000 Li", the Great Wall is in fact a series of walls and earthen works begun in the 5th Century BC and first linked up under Qin Shi Huang in about 220BC.

It was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1987.

[showme_the_Glory]

Do they want to sell some of it to Mexico to keep out US invaders?

[ghostrider]

Of course, the reason for failure of the Great Wall, was that people because too dependent on the wall, and either did not have enough troops stationed at the wall, or corrupt officials accepted bribes from barbarians.

Hmm! Some things never change.

[Tinian]

GPS survey no doubt. Using the new Chinese partial GPS constellation.

???????????

They'd be better off using a Trimble or Topcon system instead of their two measly working satellites, (totally worthless, BTW, for anything sub-100 kilometer accuracy, on one little part of the globe, for perhaps 15 minutes per day).

Even a Garmin hand-held would be better than the Chinese two satellite "constellation"!

[RightWhale]

There will be five in the constellation. Soon. Busy launch year scheduled.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. They should have tested this idea by first measuring the Not So Great Wall of China, it's much smaller.

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[geopyg]

An acquaintance just came back from a short business trip with 2 sight-seeing days. She said that the wall is mostly broken down. There are like 4 sections in good condition, each a couple miles long or something. (Put in the category of things I didn't know.)

[toldyou]

Thanks!

[Señor Zorro]

Too much time on their hands??

Too much free labor.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Once upon a time, I stacked up a bunch of heavy-duty paper plates and made a Great Wall of Chinette, but I neglected to measure it...

[SunkenCiv]

:')