UK wall and Chinese wall hand in hand to promote heritage sites

It has been 30 years since Great Wall of China and Hadrian’s Wall listed by UNESCO World Heritage.

This year Hadrian's Wall joins forces with China's Great Wall to encourage more tourism and increase the historical and cultural understanding of both great barriers. ‘Wall to Wall’ project will see heritage experts from the UK and China work together to increase understanding of both sites and boost tourism.

Aerial photo taken on April 10, 2017 by a drone shows the spring scenery of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Huairou, a mountainous district in the north of Beijing, capital of China. [File Photo: Xinhua]

Both of them have long history. The length of Great Wall of China is 13,171 miles. It started to build first part in 7th century BC; later wall built in 14th century. Most of the wall we see today dates to the Ming dynasty (the 14th century).  Soldiers, local peasants, masons built The Wall brick by brick to repel the nomadic groups of the Eurasian steppe. More than 10 million visitors go to the Great Wall of China every year.

The Hadian's Wall. [File Photo: VCG]

Meanwhile, the length of Hadrian’s Wall is 73 miles and it was built in AD122. Hadrian’s Wall was built by legionaries – the citizen-soldiers of the Roman army. The army contained specialists in masonry, engineering and architecture. It took around 15,000 men about 6 years to build the wall in order to repel the Picts and other barbaric northern Britons. It has more than 250,000 visitors annually. 

Hadrian’s Wall and The Great Wall of China will sign a unique collaboration agreement to increase the historical and cultural understanding of the two sites, Heritage Minister John Glen announced today as he set out his priorities for heritage.