Press Trust of India Posted online: Monday, May 01, 2006 at 1130 hours IST Updated: Monday, May 01, 2006 at 1145 hours IST
Beijing, May 1: China is measuring the 6000-km-long 'Great Wall' once again, using hi-tech measurment equipments for the first time.
The first phase of the re-measuring of the Great Wall, one of the seven wonders of the world, started in north China's Hebei province. It is for the first time that China is making a precise measurement and accurate survey on the Great Wall with comprehensive investigation and mapping skills.
China has launched the nation-wide investigation of the Great Wall for twice since the establishment of the new China in 1949.
In the mid-1950s, China did primary investigation on the age and distribution of the Great Wall with the help of the national cultural relic survey and the second-time investigation was undertaken in the 1980s.
As the key task of China's Great Wall Protection Project in the next several years, the investigation this time will cover the entity of the Great Wall, relative relics and sites, and resources so as to provide references for the Great Wall protection.
Moreover, the exact length of the Great Wall is still suspending although it is normally dubbed "Ten-thousand-mile Great Wall".
By applying the remote sensing technology, geographic information system and the global positioning system, scientists this time hope to obtain a set of authoritative statistics about the lenth of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall, which extends more than 6,000 km, was built mostly in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It has long been noted as the only man-made object to be visible from space, despite several American and Chinese astronauts denying the claim.
