English Name: Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world.Traversing northern part of the country, what was a huge military line of defense in the past has now become a unique world heritage site and a symbol of China. The following 10 vital statistics and 15 fun facts reveal a Great Wall hitherto unknown to you.
10 Interesting Figures of Great Wall
1. With a totallength of 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 miles), equal to half the length of the Equator, the Great Wall of China is the longest feat of human engineering.
2. In the main today’s wall comprises relics from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), measuring 8,851.8km (5,500 miles).
3. The average height of the walls is 6 to 7 meters (20 to 23 feet), and the highest is 14 meters (46 feet ).
4. The altitudes of the walls vary – the highest point is the Huanglouyuan in the northwest suburb of Beijing, with an elevation of 1,439.3meters (4,722 feet), while the lowest point is at Laolongtou in Hebei, just above the sea level.
5. The average width is 6.5 meters (21.3feet).
6. The Great Wall is over 2,600 years old.
7. More than 1,000, 000 laborers were recruited for the construction of this huge project.
8. Location: It spans across 15 regions in north China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Tianjin,Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang.
9. 1/3 of the walls have disappeared.
10. As a must-see in China, it attracts 50 million visitors every year, and had been visited by more than 460 state heads and VIPs from around the world.
Can it be Seen from the Space?
In early 19th century, the immense scale of the Wall had once given rise to arumor that it could be seen from the moon with naked eyes. In fact, it is invisible from the space. Difficulty in observing the wall with unaided eyes from space equals that of seeing a hair from two miles away!
Further Reading: Can the Great Wall be Seen from the Space?
1/3 of the Wall has Disappeared
The Great Wall is changing all the time; to be specific - it is disappearing year by year. Be clear that well-maintained sections like Badaling are just a few rare exceptions. The fact is that many wall sites had fallen into disrepair and are in danger of being lost due to physical weathering and human activities.Human vandalism is the major threat. According to statistics from UNESCO,nearly one third of the walls have already disappeared. What survive today are mainly the stone and brick constructions from the Ming Dynasty. Early walls made of rammed earth, particularly those in Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Ningxia in northwest China, are deteriorating quickly, cracking, leaning or collapsing. Itis estimated that without effective conservation, these sections will disappear altogether within 30 years.
