A five-kilometer span of stone Great Wall was discovered in
Yanqing County in Beijing, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural
Heritage announced yesterday.
The bureau is carrying out the fourth stage of their Great Wall
survey in the Beijing region. The survey will end next year.
Beginning in April 2006, this first of its kind survey was
co-launched by cultural heritage protection and mapping
authorities. Half of the operation has already been completed. They
have field surveyed a total of 231.47 kilometers of walls, 577
watch towers, 108 beacon towers and 42 fortresses.
According to Fan Xuexin, head of Yanqing Cultural Heritage
Office, the stone Great Wall spanning five-kilometers was
discovered during a survey of the Luojiatai Village in Yanqing
County. A part of the survey covering 100-kilometers of earth based
Great Wall, stretching from Chadao to Sihai Township and from Sihai
Township to Baihe Valley [an area recorded in the local chronicles
of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)] has also been completed. The survey
confirmed a span of 80-kilometer Great Wall inside Yanqing
County.
The whole survey carried out in the Beijing region comprises
five stages. The fourth stage focuses on five counties and
districts: Huairou, Pinggu and Mentougou - where fieldwork has now
been completed, and Yanqing and Miyun, where fieldwork will begin
next year.
Official statistics indicate that Beijing houses a 629-kilometer
span of the Great Wall, with 537 kilometers well-preserved and
containing historical relics. The number of "629" was verified in
1984, when the mapping was primarily conducted by visual estimates
instead of precise instruments. According to Wang Yuwei, director
of Department of Cultural Heritage Preservation under the Beijing
Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the fourth stage of the
survey may add to the current total length of Great Wall in the
Beijing region.
(China.org.cn by Huang Shan November 1, 2007)
