HOHHOT, CHINA: About a fifth of the Great Wall built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has disappeared, an archaeologist said yesterday.
The vanished parts were 157.515km long, Xinhua quoted Mr Tala - head of the region's Institute of Cultural and Historical Relics and Archaeology - as saying.
He added that the statistics were based on newly released survey results from the region's Surveying and Mapping Bureau and its Institute of Aerial Remote Sensing, Surveying and Mapping.
In recent centuries, the Great Wall has been damaged by weather and human activities, leading to the disappearance of some sections, he told Xinhua.
The Great Wall was China's line of defence during much of its long history. 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.
Its 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 6,350km section from the Ming Dynasty.
The Wall was listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site in 1987.
Inner Mongolia has a total of 15,000km of Great Wall sections built in different dynasties, accounting for one third of the country's total.
The authorities in the region launched a preservation project earlier this year to protect the Wall's original architecture, including some reinforcement work.
It is expected to last for two to three years, with a planned cost of 100 million yuan (S$21 million), according to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Culture Department.
