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China's Great Wall Is Even Greater

By CHI-CHI ZHANG
,
AP
posted: 13 HOURS 5 MINUTES AGO
comments: 105
filed under: World News
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BEIJING (April 20) -The Great Wall of China is even greater than once thought.
A two-year government mapping study has uncovered new sections of the ancient Chinese monument that total about 180 miles, according to a report posted on the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping Web site.
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Using mapping technologies such as infrared range finders and GPS devices, experts discovered portions of the wall — concealed by hills, trenches and rivers — that stretch from Hu Mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Pass in western Gansu province, the official China Daily reported Monday.
The newly mapped parts of the wall were built during the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644) to protect against northern invaders and were submerged over time by sandstorms that moved across the arid region, the study said.
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The additional parts mean the Great Wall — which Chinese emperors began constructing 2,000 years ago to keep out Mongols and invaders — spans about 3,900 miles through the northern part of the country.
The joint project, conducted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, will continue for another year in order to map sections of the wall built during the Qin (221 B.C.-206 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.-9 A.D.) Dynasties, the report said.
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Recent studies by Chinese archaeologists have shown that sections of the wall in Gansu are being reduced to "mounds of dirt" by sandstorms and may disappear entirely in 20 years. They blamed destructive farming methods in the 1950s that desertified large areas of northern China. In addition, portions of the wall in Gansu were made of packed earth, which proved less resilient that brick and stone used in much of the wall's construction.
China in recent years has begun restoring parts of the wall as well as trying to rein in commercial development on and around it.
The wall's modern sections around the Chinese capital date from the Ming Dynasty, including those restored since the Communist Party took power in 1949, and several areas — including the most popular, Badaling, just north of Beijing — draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Tourist encroachment also has been a problem in recent years, with state media saying that near Badaling almost every brick on a popular section of the wall has been carved with people's names or other graffiti.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-04-20 08:48:38
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Ruths gardens

03:33 AMApr 21 2009

I have a question for you Trekkinbob.And not just you,but for everyone who seems to want everyone to know you guys are democrats.Why is it that everytime someone disagrees with you,you guys automatically tell them to stop listening to Fox news?You never say any other news station.The funny thing is when I find out where you people live,you don't even get Fox news broadcasted to you.Is it a democrat thing that you guys just repeat what other democrats say on here?If it wasn't for the name being posted to, I would swear they are all the same person with many names.No I am not a republican or independent.I am not of any party.I would never lower myself to thump on my chest and say I follow a party blindly because I am stupid.And I am not saying you are stupid.I watch all news stations.I can discern the facts and research them.But I will admit that all stations other than fox lean towards the democrats.Fox covers both sides.Is that what upsets democrats?

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UhlerRobertJ

03:30 AMApr 21 2009

Blkbutterfly1228 01:22 AMApr 21 2009 ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!?????THM4USA 09:18 PMApr 21 2009 First priority in American (AMERICA) should be to shut down all the garammar (GRAMMAR)schools in the USA! They do not teach spelling, grammar or puctuation (PUNCTUATION) anymore! This can be proven by some of the posting on this sit (SITE)**************Let's start with the school that you attended.

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Iselin 007

03:16 AMApr 21 2009

They use 30 c an hour labor. Imagine the low wages paid to build the Great Wall Of China!

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Ruths gardens

02:50 AMApr 21 2009

Well Rlly294, The Bible does tell us about the Tower of Babyl.It was a great feat for man to undertake.But was not built to please God.It was a tower built to reach heaven so that man could climb and never be destroyed by water again.It does say that God came down and was marveled at what man was doing ,then grew angry because of why they were building it.He struck them with dumbness and scattered their tongues.Just as a person who has not accepted Christ as their saviour are filled with dumbness and will not understand the Bible.The Bejing wall has encryptians of visits from the stars.Never seen until China opened this wall up to westerners.The village and temple of Alyd mian,or something like that, off the coast of Israel which is underwater is dated back to 8,000 bc.Being escavated now,shows animals and human bones. The animal bones are from a 7ft tall cow that thrived during the time of Noah.And their architecture was far more advanced than egyptians or chinese.

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TrekkinBob

02:07 AMApr 21 2009

WILKESGM 01:53 AMApr 21 2009 "Sorry, but people who fake information to get government grants aren't scientists. For instance, the Earth is cooling.............L 0 L. I certainly agree that scientists who fake data for profit should (and will) be exposed as frauds. But tell "the earth is cooling" to scientists at American Assoc. for Advancement of Science, The U.S. National Academy of Scientists, American Meteorological Society, Intnl Union for Quaternary Research, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, American Geophysical Union, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, Royal Metmeorological Society (UK), World Metmeorological Organization. Dozens of others around globe. Even geopetroleum scientists have come around. You need to get your info from scientists, not Fox news.

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NurseMGoodbody

02:06 AMApr 21 2009

I always wondered why there are more Chineese than any other population. Were they against birth control? Anyone know?

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WILKESGM

01:58 AMApr 21 2009

"China and European civilizations have been around for eons -- they should be light years ahead of us, and they're not."............America was the only place where the individual was protected from government interference. Civilization advances when individuals get to make their own choices. Unfortunately, the current administration wishes to dump Eurpean style constraint on individualism, so don't expect us to be advanced for long - slaves don't strive to be the best slaves they can be.

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WILKESGM

01:53 AMApr 21 2009

"bash the hell out scientists and what they do every chance they get.".........Sorry, but people who fake information to get government grants aren't scientists. For instance, the Earth is cooling. Sun-spot activity is at its lowest in almost 100 years. So, how did all those "scientists" decide that the Earth was getting warmer? They fudged the data. Those are frauds, not scientists. No one should respect them - regardless of your political pursuasion.

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WILKESGM

01:49 AMApr 21 2009

I have always wondered at the complete disconnect with reality that goes along with this ancient monument. The Great Wall was built by slave-labor. The bones of millions of laborers inhabit the earthen works inside the wall. What kind of a feat is that? Would anyone revere a tent made out of the skins of slaves? Then why a wall made from their bones? A fine tribute to Chinese culture - which isn't really any better today than it was then. They still live off slave labor, oppression and isn't it convenient that if you need an organ transplant, they can come up with exactly what you need on the 23rd of next month...almost as if they make arrangements to have the right donor just happen to drop dead when they need them to. How timely.

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RBADMAN46

01:35 AMApr 21 2009

According to my book THE BELT, the Chinese became advanced due to their intermingling with the Ortasians that left China 35,000 years ago. But since they flew in starships to earth and China doesn't have any, I guess they became progressively backwards and have only recently began progressing again.

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