陳延洲

Great Wall of China is certainly the longest man-made object on earth， and also a top UNESCO World Heritage Site in Asia， and a requisite1 for any visit to mainland China. But much of what we commonly know about the Great Wall isnt entirely accurate.

中國長城當(dāng)然是世界上最長的人造物體，也是亞洲頂級的聯(lián)合國教科文組織世界遺址，是到訪中國大陸必須去的一個地方。但是我們通常所知的關(guān)于長城的很多常識并不都是完全準(zhǔn)確的。

How Old Is the Great Wall of China？

中國的長城有多古老？

Construction of early parts of the wall began over 2，000 years ago. However， most of the existing walls were built during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century to keep out Mongol2 raiders3.

城墻早期部分的建造始于2000多年前。然而，現(xiàn)存的大部分城墻是在十四世紀(jì)的明朝時期修建的，用以阻擋蒙古的侵略者。

Is the Great Wall of China Visible4 from Orbit5？

從地球同步軌道上看得到長城嗎？

Under perfect conditions， maybe， but its doubtful. Despite the long-running myth that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space， astronauts disagree. Astronauts have mistaken other features for the wall but so far werent able to see the structure without help from technology.

While in low orbit， an astronaut did manage to grab a picture of the Great Wall， but pointing a powerful camera sensor6 at it and getting lucky doesnt mean that it was seen with the naked7 eye.

Although waterways and many man-made objects—including roads—are visible from a low orbit， NASA says that entire continents blend together when viewed with the naked eye from both the moon and space. The Great Wall was constructed using local materials of similar color to the surrounding terrain8， making it indistinguishable9.

在完美的條件下，或許可以，但這仍值得懷疑。盡管有關(guān)中國長城是唯一一個可以從太空中看見的人造建筑的傳言流傳已久，但宇航員們并不認(rèn)同這一點(diǎn)。宇航員們曾把其他特征誤以為是城墻，但到目前為止，沒有技術(shù)的幫助是看不見該建筑的。

在低軌道的時候，一個宇航員曾確實(shí)打算抓拍一張長城的照片，但是那是用一個強(qiáng)大的相機(jī)傳感器對著它拍攝的，雖然有幸抓拍到，但那不是用肉眼看到的。

雖然河渠和許多人造物（包括道路）在低軌道上可見，但美國宇航局說，從月球和太空用肉眼望去，整個大陸混在了一起。長城是用與周圍地形顏色相近的材料就地取材建造的，人們難以區(qū)分。

Why Did People Think the Great Wall Was Visible from Space？

為什么人們認(rèn)為長城在太空中是可見的？

Back in 1754， way before space travel was a thing， an English clergyman10 wrote that the wall is so long that it must be visible from the moon.

Sir Henry Norman， an English journalist， decided to make the same claim in 1895. Both were impressed by the wall， but neither knew very much about space.

For decades to follow， the idea that the Great Wall of China must be visible from space was spread by writers. Finally， the idea became common belief.

早在公元1754年，在人類進(jìn)入太空之前，一位英國牧師寫道，長城如此長，在月球上肯定能看到它。

英國記者亨利·諾曼在1895年做出了同樣的聲明。雖然這兩個人都對長城印象深刻，但都不太了解太空。

接下來數(shù)十載，能從太空看到中國長城的這一說法被作家們傳播開來。最終，這種奇想成為了普遍認(rèn)知。

Is the Great Wall One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World？

長城是世界古代七大奇跡之一嗎？

Despite the age and size， the Great Wall of China never made it onto the list of seven ancient wonders. Perhaps thats a good thing： The only remaining ancient wonder that has not been destroyed is the Great Pyramid at Giza！

The Great Wall of China was added to the so-called “New Seven Wonders of the World” by winning a poll11 conducted online and by telephone in 2007.

盡由于年代和大小的原因，中國的長城未躋身于世界古代七大奇觀的榜單。但這也許是一件好事：唯一保存至今的沒有被摧毀的世界古代七大奇跡就只剩吉薩的大金字塔了！

2007年，中國的長城在網(wǎng)上和電話投票中勝出，入選了“新世界七大奇跡”。

Is It Possible to Hike Along the Great Wall？

沿著長城徒步旅行是可能的嗎？

Yes. Some adventurers have even walked or cycled the entire length of the wall. Much of the Great Wall is in ruins， however， tour companies offer opportunities to even sleep on top of less popular stretches of the wall.

Many stretches of the wall are closed off permanently12 for restoration13 work or archaeological14 studies which will most likely never finish， if they ever began in the first place.

可以的。一些冒險家甚至步行或騎自行車走完了長城全程。長城的大部分都已成為廢墟，然而，旅游公司提供了機(jī)會，你甚至可以睡在較冷門的城墻上。

許多段城墻永久關(guān)閉，用于修復(fù)工作或考古研究，如果已經(jīng)開始，這些研究很可能永遠(yuǎn)都不會結(jié)束。

Is the Great Wall Busy？

長城熱鬧嗎？

Make no mistake and dont believe what you see in photos： If you visit any stretch of the Great Wall within striking distance of Beijing， particularly Badaling， youll be in the company of hundreds—if not thousands—of other visitors. You may as well learn how to say hello！

The wall is incredibly busy during big holidays in China such as National Day and Chinese New Year.

不犯錯誤，不要相信你看到的圖片：如果您到訪北京附近的任何一段長城，特別是八達(dá)嶺，你會有數(shù)百甚至數(shù)千其他游客的陪伴。你不妨學(xué)學(xué)如何同他們打招呼！

如果是在國慶節(jié)和春節(jié)之類的中國長假期間，長城將會異常地?zé)狒[。

Other Interesting Great Wall of China Facts

關(guān)于長城的其他趣聞

◎Mao Zedong once said， “He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.”

◎Sections of the wall contain bullet holes from the Second Sino-Japanese War.

◎President Nixons historic 1972 visit to China included a tour of the Great Wall at Badaling， a very popular part of the wall around 50 miles north of Beijing.

◎The Badaling stretch of the Great Wall， the section nearest to Beijing and the most visited， was used as the end of the cycling course for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

◎More than 25，000 watchtowers have been constructed along the wall throughout history.

◎毛澤東曾經(jīng)說過：“不到長城非好漢?！?/p>

◎部分城墻上有中國抗日戰(zhàn)爭時期遺留下的彈孔。

◎尼克松總統(tǒng)1972歷史性地訪問了中國，行程包括游覽八達(dá)嶺長城。這是一段非常受歡迎的長城，位于北京以北約50英里處。

◎八達(dá)嶺長城離北京最近、游客最多，是2008年夏季奧運(yùn)會自行車賽的終點(diǎn)。

◎在歷史上，沿著城墻，一共建起了超過25000座瞭望臺。

Notes：

1. requisite n. 必需品

2. Mongol n. 蒙古人，蒙古語

3. raider n. 襲擊者；侵入者

4. visible adj. 明顯的；看得見的

5. orbit n. 軌道

6. sensor n. 傳感器

7. naked adj. 裸體的；無裝飾的

8. terrain n. 地形，地勢；地帶

9. indistinguishable adj. 不能區(qū)別的，不能辨別的

10. clergyman n. 牧師；教士

11. poll n. 投票；民意測驗(yàn)

12. permanently adv. 永久地，長期不變地

13. restoration n. 恢復(fù)；復(fù)位

14. archaeological adj. 考古學(xué)的；考古學(xué)上的