More of Great Wall Opens to Visitors - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.

The Great Wall of China is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, drawing in a crowd of some 6 million tourists to the most popular sections. Officials in Beijing have decided to open up more of the Great Wall of China to tourists. Only four parts of the wall were open to tourists, but they are frequently overcrowded and flooded with people wanting to experience the Great Wall, especially on weekends and holidays. Some people have gone so far as to climb the wall in closed areas, causing damage to the structure of the historic monument. So city officials will expand two of the most popular existing wall sections and add two more locations that were previously offlimits.

The Great Wall is visible from space and is the largest man made structure on the planet. Construction lasted over 2 thousand years and the wall stretches for 4000 miles. Even today, it seems almost mythical as it winds and climbs through the Chinese hills. The towers and forts were used to send smoke signal messages quickly over hundreds of miles, as well as being used for housing and storage for the military that were building the wall and protecting the border.