The Walls of China

Name: The Great Wall of China
Date of construction: 6th century B.C. through 16th century
Built to keep out: Invaders from the north
Status: Tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site
Little known fact: You actually can’t see it from space.
 

Name: The Green Wall of China
Date of construction: 2002 through ~2050
Built to keep out: The Gobi Desert
Status: Mixed
Little known fact: Prior to the Wall’s erection, the Gobi was advancing south at 3 km per year.
 

Name: The Great Firewall of China
Date of construction: 2002 (and even earlier) to present
Built to keep out: Ideas
Status: Trivial to circumvent but still annoying
Little known fact: Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, Skype, and MySpace all self-censor their services for use in China.

Great Wall photo by mooney47.

• China
• Great Wall of China

Skateboarder Bob Burnquist has built the world’s

Skateboarder Bob Burnquist has built the world’s first permanent Mega Ramp, a structure pioneered by Danny Way, who used one to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard.

• bobburnquist
• dannyway
• Great Wall of China
• megaramp
• skateboarding
• sports

Slate ruminates on Danny Way’s giant skateboard

Slate ruminates on Danny Way’s giant skateboard ramp. Videos of people actually using this beautiful monstrosity are available on Way’s site. Oh, and he jumped The Great Wall of China on a skateboard earlier this year.

• China
• dannyway
• Great Wall of China
• megaramp
• skateboarding
• xgames

Danny Way, a pioneer in distance and

Danny Way, a pioneer in distance and height skateboard jumping, will be attempting to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard tomorrow. He’ll trying to break a couple records along the way as well: height out of a skateboard ramp and speed on a skateboard.

• China
• dannyway
• extremesports
• Great Wall of China
• skateboarding
• sports