BEIJING, April 30 -- The Great Wall resource investigation has kicked off officially in Hebei Province as the first phase these days. It is the first time for China to make precise measurement and accurate survey on the Great Wall with comprehensive investigation and mapping skills, which will be undertaken for several years.

    China has launched the nation-wide investigation of the Great Wall for twice since the establishment of the new China. 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 Great Wall 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 Great Wall length.

    (Source: Chinanews.cn)