The Great Wall(File Photo)   Feb.11 - The State Cultural Relics Bureau has announced a plan to map out the nation's pride and symbol -- the Great Wall -- over the next four years, to accumulate scientific data to better protect the endangered relic, CRI quoted Beijing News.

 

13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, including Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, and Gansu, will join hands in the survey.

 

The field work will begin this April, with the basic results to be announced in the second half of 2008. Measures to be taken include cartographic data and accurate length of how much of the Great Wall remains.

 

Compiled results of parts of the Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) will be revealed in 2009, while compiled figures of what remains from other historic periods will be released in 2010.

 

In recent decades, the Great Wall has been facing severe challenges, both natural and man-made. Building up an up-to-date database of the relic will help the nation better protect its heritage.