By MyLifeTipsHub
The Great Wall, constructed over 2,000 years, stretches across China’s vast lands like a colossal dragon. But how long is the Great Wall?
In April 2009, China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced that the length of the Ming Great Wall was 8,851.8 kilometers. According to a 2012 survey by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the total length of Great Wall structures across all dynasties is 21,196.18 kilometers.
Zhao Chen, Director of the China Great Wall Research Institute and Deputy Editor of the Great Wall Volume in The Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition), explains that as research progresses, understanding of the Great Wall, including its definition and length, continues to evolve. China’s history features three major periods of large-scale Great Wall construction: the Qin, Han, and Ming dynasties. To calculate its total length, walls from all dynasties must be included.
The easternmost section of the Great Wall extending into the sea is Laolongtou, located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province.
In December 2019, the Chinese government issued a plan for constructing National Cultural Parks for the Great Wall, Grand Canal, and Long March. This plan expanded the Great Wall’s scope to include structures with defensive characteristics from the Warring States, Qin, Han, Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Western Xia, and Liao dynasties, as well as the Jinjiehao and the Ming Great Wall. The new framework enriched the understanding of the Great Wall’s historical significance. However, experts note that some provinces have unregistered sections of the Great Wall that remain unaccounted for, with hopes that these can be identified during the fourth national cultural heritage survey.
Zhao Chen emphasizes that accurately measuring the Great Wall’s total length requires standardizing personnel training, definitions, measurement methods, and calculation standards to minimize errors.
In October 2022, Zhao Chen explored the easternmost known beacon tower of the Great Wall in Xinglongbao, Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province. This tower is 68 kilometers east of Hushan Great Wall, near the Yalu River. He also led over a dozen expeditions to Xinjiang’s deserts, recently discovering the ruins of Shanhanguan Fortress in Wuqia County, extending the known westernmost point of the Great Wall by 60 kilometers.
Zhao Chen notes that earlier limitations in defining the Great Wall, along with varying provincial standards, have made length calculations incomplete. Renowned architect Luo Zhewen estimated the total length of Great Wall structures at over 50,000 kilometers. Determining the precise length of the Great Wall remains a work in progress.
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