Data sources & methodology

The dataset

Our heritage records derive from China’s 2012 national Great Wall resource survey, the first comprehensive field survey of the entire system. We map 43,809 records in five categories: 10,073 wall sections, 29,558 individual structures (towers and shelters), 2,223 passes and fortresses, 1,769 border trenches, and 186 associated relics.

A note on counts: some earlier-published survey breakdowns give slightly different per-category figures (for example, around 10,051 wall sections). Those reflect the survey as first reported; the numbers on this site reflect the records as de-duplicated and mapped in this archive, which total 43,809. We drive every count on the site from a single source so the figures never contradict one another.

Field definitions

Every record carries coded attributes. English labels are ours; the Chinese terms are the survey’s. These tables are the authoritative key used across the map and the content pages.

Licenses

The compiled survey dataset is published under CC BY 4.0: reuse it with attribution to “Great Wall Archive.” Our editorial content (essays, page copy, and illustrations) is published under CC BY-NC 4.0: reuse non-commercially with attribution.

Imagery

Content pages favour the archive’s own typographic and illustrated visuals over stock photography. Where a photograph is used, its source and license are credited on the page. To report an attribution issue, see contact.