The man who discovered the lost Great Wall
- By William Wang
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E-mail CRI, March 28, 2012
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On April 22nd, 2012, William Lindesay speaks at Beijing's Trends Lounge, where he shares stories and insights about the Great Wall, including the "lost section" he verified outside of China's borders. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com /William Wang] |
Recently, Lindesay has again been making headlines, having discovered a section of the Great Wall outside of China, in Mongolia. He'd been pondering the possibility of its existence in the late 90s since he knew that sections of the wall approached the China-Mongolia border.
Lindesay explained, "This has become a quest to ascertain whether these are ancient dynastic Great Walls of China marooned in inner Mongolia, or to take on board what the Mongolians say about these walls, a particularly interesting story about a wall being constructed to stop the gazelle from migrating off the steppe. Because as you know, during the time of Genghis Khan these were a great food and clothing resource, and the horn was used for weapons and decorative objects."
With the aid of his Atlas of Genghis Kahn and Google Earth, Lindesay located a faint line in the desert which appeared to be a wall in Mongolia. Lindesay had to go there in person in order to make comparisons with the wall in China.
Lindesay was exulted to find that the wall indeed looked like a wall, up to 2.75 metres in place. "It was a mash of mud and sticks. And the sticks were a very unusual drought resistant desert shrub called saxaul… so that was a great discovery and surprise."
This wall stretched up to the peak of an extinct volcano, a single peak in a sea of flatness. The view from the top was panoramic, enabling viewers to see approaching enemies or to follow the movements of gazelle.
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