Culture: Art: Landscape
finish the Great Wall of China   (+17, -5)  [vote for, against]
We really should complete these projects that we start, not just leave them to crumble away, stick them away in a cupboard and forget them; and after all the wall was a pretty good half-baked idea.

The Great Wall of China stretches 1400 miles from the Yellow Sea westwards and sort of peters out half way across China. The idea was conceived in the Ch’in Dynasty, two thousand years ago – so come on we have wasted enough time on this one.

Suggested route would take it to the western edge of China and then on further westwards following the northern borders of Afghanistan; completely circle the Caspian Sea, on over to the southern rim of the Black Sea. North to Bucharest, then west again and keep going in a straight line following roughly the 45 degree latitude line, straight across Europe regardless of country borders and end up in Bordeaux just in time for a nice glass of French wine, petit pain or croissant and some self-congratulatory kissing.

Why? Who said Why? We can all sit on the wall, swinging our legs and singing a happy song. Pretty good place for a picnic.
-- po, Feb 18 2002

Boring academic link http://geography.ab...eekly/aa090100a.htm
Debunking another urban myth [PeterSilly, Jul 31 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

The_20Exstrudel Pastry analogue [pocmloc, Jan 10 2016]

So we're going to need more than the one bag of cement, then.
-- st3f, Feb 18 2002


Actually, the Great Wall of China is more than just a single wall. It is a collection of hundreds of smaller walls built at various times, and in various locations. So the argument can be made that the Great Wall of China is, indeed, complete. All we need to do is relocate the various sections so that they form a single continuous wall.
-- Guncrazy, Feb 18 2002


Can we pebble-dash it?
-- Guy Fox, Feb 18 2002


gun is right it started out as lots of little walls but during the Ch'in dynasty they did some joined-up work on it, using I am led to believe - 1/2 million workers.
-- po, Feb 18 2002


Um, before we get to Bordeaux, could we first extend the wall on its Eastern end, and wrap it down along the entire length of the Chinese coastline? That way maybe we could head off the monster "tidal" wave that would occur if every person in China jumped into the ocean at once.
-- beauxeault, Feb 18 2002


If we're not going to Spain, then I'm not going to help.
-- runforrestrun, Feb 18 2002


we can veer off in any direction that you suggest, runf.
-- po, Feb 18 2002


I want to rebuild the Maginot Line, and the Atlantic Wall.
-- StarChaser, Feb 19 2002


After completion, would the Great Wall of China in it's previous state come to be known as "The Pretty Good Wall of China"?
-- thumbwax, Feb 19 2002


Can we rebuild it with porcelain?
-- pottedstu, Feb 19 2002


We could just fill in the blanks with a nice hedge -much cheaper (though this was once baked in India).
-- mcscotland, Feb 19 2002


hedge? hmmm... that gives me a better idea, continue using stone and use the entire wall as part of a gigantic maze that covers all of China (not that I have anything against China, but if they're going to build a massive wall they really should have expected people to turn it into a maze sooner or later)
-- panthaz paradise, Jul 30 2002


Would we be able to get David Copperfield to walk through it again?
-- gizmo_man, Jul 31 2002


Maybe we could like go out of China, then extend it through many countries. It could span over Europe and Asia, maybe Africa, and if we grow gills, any of the other continents. Then, it would have to be called The Great Wall of the World. Now, all we need are gills...
-- paranoid, Jul 31 2002


//they did some joined-up work on it, using I am led to believe - 1/2 million workers.//

po - didn't they use stones?

Meph - I'm not sure that you can actually see the Great Wall from anything other than low orbit, certainly not with the naked eye from the standard Shuttle orbit - see link.
-- PeterSilly, Jul 31 2002


do you think it necessary? I could get a couple of quotes I suppose.
-- po, Dec 07 2002


A few cashpoints wouldn't go amiss either
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 09 2016


If we could deem the wall "politically necessary" then perhaps Trump could get Mexico to pay for it.
-- whatrock, Jan 09 2016


/Why? Who asked Why?' I love it!
-- bungston, Jan 09 2016


Is this 'finish' as in 'to complete,' or 'finish' as in 'FINISH HIM!'?
-- RayfordSteele, Jan 10 2016


//end up in Bordeaux //

Fie, keep going under the Atlantic, across America, on to Japan, and join the ends.
-- Voice, Jan 10 2016



random, halfbakery