Astăzi toată lumea știe că în China se copiază orice. Ce ami nouă copie a unui monument este tocmai a … Marelui Zid Chinezesc. Replica a fost construită în Nanchang, China, iar mii de vizitatori s-au arătat deja interesaţi de structură, unii dintre ei fiind convinşi că aceasta este contrucţia originală.

Apetenţa chinezilor pentru replici a atins un nou nivel, după ce anul acesta a fost inaugurat un Mare Zid Chinezesc mai mic, care măsoară numai 4 kilometri, faţă de 21.000 cât are originalul.

Pic shows: Visitors in the copycat version of the great Wall of China. With tourists now so crowded on the great Wall of China that they were moving no more than 10 m every five minutes, it's no surprise that this copycat version of the real thing is now proving a huge success. Despite its size the real great Wall of China now attracts so many visitors, the people spend hours waiting in queues to get onto the structure and then hours more to walk along it and get back off again. Many complain that it ruins the experience, and as a result this copycat version which looks exactly like the real thing and is located in the impressive scenery of a national park proved a winner over the recent week-long holiday. Although considerably shorter than the real thing, it is nevertheless built to scale and was commissioned by the government of Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province. Located in the Nanchang Ecological Park it gives visitors the chance to walk along 4 km of structure which looks exactly like the real thing. In fact, tourists visiting the copycat version of the famous 2,200-year-old structure said they found it hard to tell it apart, despite the fact that the Nanchang version was made with modern-day materials. And they also manage to walk along with a lot more ease than on the original version where tens of thousands were gathered. Ironically when it was unveiled tourism chiefs tried to play down the fact that it was a copy of the great wall is actually called it the scenic corridor. But local media who were impressed by the idea quickly gave up on that idea and started referring to it as the Great Wall copy. Project organiser Chen Kui said: "It was built as a place where locals can come and exercise without having to travel too far from their homes." The original Great Wall was built by soldiers during the Warring States Period (475–221) of Chinese history to protect the country against the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. (ends)

Pic shows: Visitors in the copycat version of the great Wall of China. With tourists now so crowded on the great Wall of China that they were moving no more than 10 m every five minutes, it's no surprise that this copycat version of the real thing is now proving a huge success. Despite its size the real great Wall of China now attracts so many visitors, the people spend hours waiting in queues to get onto the structure and then hours more to walk along it and get back off again. Many complain that it ruins the experience, and as a result this copycat version which looks exactly like the real thing and is located in the impressive scenery of a national park proved a winner over the recent week-long holiday. Although considerably shorter than the real thing, it is nevertheless built to scale and was commissioned by the government of Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province. Located in the Nanchang Ecological Park it gives visitors the chance to walk along 4 km of structure which looks exactly like the real thing. In fact, tourists visiting the copycat version of the famous 2,200-year-old structure said they found it hard to tell it apart, despite the fact that the Nanchang version was made with modern-day materials. And they also manage to walk along with a lot more ease than on the original version where tens of thousands were gathered. Ironically when it was unveiled tourism chiefs tried to play down the fact that it was a copy of the great wall is actually called it the scenic corridor. But local media who were impressed by the idea quickly gave up on that idea and started referring to it as the Great Wall copy. Project organiser Chen Kui said: "It was built as a place where locals can come and exercise without having to travel too far from their homes." The original Great Wall was built by soldiers during the Warring States Period (475–221) of Chinese history to protect the country against the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. (ends)

Mai multe publicaţii locale au precizat că printre curioşii s-au numărat şi persoane convinse că acesta este Marele Zid Chinezesc original, în timp ce alţii s-au declarat fericiţi că au la dispoziţie o replică pe care o pot parcurge mai repede şi unde pot face fotografii.

Pic shows: Visitors in the copycat version of the great Wall of China. With tourists now so crowded on the great Wall of China that they were moving no more than 10 m every five minutes, it's no surprise that this copycat version of the real thing is now proving a huge success. Despite its size the real great Wall of China now attracts so many visitors, the people spend hours waiting in queues to get onto the structure and then hours more to walk along it and get back off again. Many complain that it ruins the experience, and as a result this copycat version which looks exactly like the real thing and is located in the impressive scenery of a national park proved a winner over the recent week-long holiday. Although considerably shorter than the real thing, it is nevertheless built to scale and was commissioned by the government of Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province. Located in the Nanchang Ecological Park it gives visitors the chance to walk along 4 km of structure which looks exactly like the real thing. In fact, tourists visiting the copycat version of the famous 2,200-year-old structure said they found it hard to tell it apart, despite the fact that the Nanchang version was made with modern-day materials. And they also manage to walk along with a lot more ease than on the original version where tens of thousands were gathered. Ironically when it was unveiled tourism chiefs tried to play down the fact that it was a copy of the great wall is actually called it the scenic corridor. But local media who were impressed by the idea quickly gave up on that idea and started referring to it as the Great Wall copy. Project organiser Chen Kui said: "It was built as a place where locals can come and exercise without having to travel too far from their homes." The original Great Wall was built by soldiers during the Warring States Period (475–221) of Chinese history to protect the country against the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. (ends)

Replica se află la 1.500 de kilometri depărtare de original.

Replica construcţiei antice se pare că a fost realizată pentru a creşte interesul turistic pentru zona Nanchang din China. La fel ca zidul original, copia a fost construită într-o zonă muntoasă, din cărămizi făcute manual, iar din loc în loc au fost ridicate turnuri de veghe. Replica se află la 1.500 de kilometri depărtare de original.

Tot mai multe copii ale unor obiective turistice foarte populare au  apărut în ultimii ani în China. Printre acestea se numără replici ale Turnului Eiffel, Arcului de Trimf, cu Statua Libertăţii sau catedrala Notre-Dame de Paris. Recent au început să apară şi copii după obiective turistice din China.

Marele Zid Chinezesc este o construcţie strategică de mii de kilometri lungime. Zidul a fost construit cu scopul de apărare a graniţei imperiului chinez contra atacurilor popoarelor nomade din nordul Chinei. Prima porţiune a zidului se pare că a fost construită în a doua jumătate a secolului V î.Hr, în timpul dezbinării Imperiului chinez (475 – 221 î.Hr.). În anul 214 î.Hr., împăratul Qin Shi Huangdi permite să se construiască prima parte a zidului de la fluviul Galben, ca apărare faţă de poporul nomad Xiongnu (numiţi în Europa huni). Spre deosebire de partea de zid construită mai devreme care se întinde şi în văi, zidul acesta era construit numai pe crestele munţilor.

Marele Zid Chinezesc original are 21.000 de kilometri lungime.

Din lipsă de argilă s-a folosit la construcţia zidului numai piatră aşezată pe straturi. Din acele timpuri zidul a fost mereu reclădit, atingând în timpul dinastiei Ming lungimea maximă. În anul 1493, împăratul Hongzhi a început construcţia zidului dinastiei Ming, care servea ca apărare contra mongolilor şi pentru o supraveghere mai bună a drumurilor comerciale, ca porţiunea centrală a drumului mătăsii.