High-Tech Reveals More of China's Great Wall

A section of the Great Wall in disrepair.

China’s famed Great Wall has gained another 180 miles due to infrared range finders and GPS devices enabling researchers to find portions previously concealed by hills, trenches and rivers.

The newly mapped parts of the wall were built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) to protect China against northern invaders and were submerged over time by sandstorms that moved across the arid region, according to China’s national mapping agency.

The additional parts mean the Great Wall ~ construction of which began more than 2,000 years ago to prevent incursions into China by the Mongols and others ~ spans about 3,900 miles through the northern part of the country.

Recent studies by Chinese archaeologists have shown that sandstorms are reducing sections of the wall in Gansu to "mounds of dirt" and that they may disappear entirely in 20 years. These studies mainly blame the erosion on destructive farming methods used in the 1950s that turned large areas of northern China into desert. In addition, portions of the wall in Gansu were made of packed earth, which is less resilient than the brick and stone used elsewhere in much of the wall's construction.

China in recent years has begun restoring parts of the wall as well as trying to curb commercial development on or next to the ancient structure.

Click here for the Guardian UK article.

Brick Kilns Discovered Near China's Great Wall

Archeologists have determined kilns in North China's Hebei province were dedicated to producing bricks for the Great Wall. The site is the closest brick production base to the Wall discovered so far.

The 600-year-old site is located in the coastal city of Qinhuangdao on farmland about 110 yards from a local section of the Wall at Chengziyu.

Archaeologist have unearthed more than forty brick kilns, all built in the Ming Dynasty, during the same period.

The Great Wall was first built by order of Emperor Qinshihuang over two thousand years ago. Its most recent large-scale reinforcement came in the early Ming Dynasty, when the empire's northern frontiers were seriously threatened.

Click here for the CCTV.com article.

Sections of Great Wall are Disappearing

Some 20 percent of the Inner Mongolian stretch of the Great Wall of China has disappeared, archaeologists said this week. The affected stretch is about 98 miles long. In recent centuries, the Great Wall ~ built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ~ has been damaged by weather and human activities, leading to the disappearance of some sections.

The Great Wall was China's line of defense. Different sections meander across thousands of miles, passing through many provinces and autonomous regions, including Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and Liaoning in north China.

Construction began during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), when sections were built in scattered strategic areas. The most visually striking part is generally considered to be a well-preserved 4,000-mile section from the late Ming Dynasty.

Click here for the Xinhua News Agency article.