43,000 sites of Great Wall totaling length of 21,000 km

There are currently 43,000 sites on the Great Wall in China, which have a total length being more than 21,000 kilometers, according to a conservation plan.

The plan, aiming to establish a long-term mechanism for the conservation and utilization of the Great Wall, was jointly publicized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage this week.

The sites include 10,000 wall sections, 1,700 trench/moat sections, 30,000 examples of architecture, as well as 2,200 passes and fortresses.

According to the plan, the sites cover 404 counties over 15 provincial-level regions in China.

The Great Wall consists of many interconnected walls built between the seventh century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD to 1644 AD). It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.