Sighting the Great Wall of China from the air?

[jukebox333]

Question for those of you who have transited PEK: if you are approaching from Europe in daylight, is the Great Wall visible as you cross from the North into the greater Beijing connurbation?

I can see from Google Earth at 10,000m it's not in-your-face obvious, but one or two comments here suggest it CAN be seen if you look at the right time and the weather/light is favourable.

I'd like to know if this is the norm or the exception?

Cheers!

 

[777]

I was struggling to see it from the ground when i was there last due to Beijing's legendary pollution.

 

[penegal]

I am normally too busy looking at the Champagne in front of me


TBH I don't really know. I have never seen it from the air, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Naturally the weather and pollution would obviously be an issue.

Also remember that the wall is not particularly wide in any section, and huge lengths of the wall have been cleared or have fallen into complete disrepair. That said, apparently it is/was visible from space (probably as a thin line akin to a river).

With any luck if it is readily visible the crew might make an announcement.

 

[opusman]

snopes.com: Great Wall From Space

 

[dajop]

snopes.com: Great Wall From Space

Good reference. When you visit the Great Wall you can see flaw in the logic of the myth around it's visibility. The wall's width in comparison to many of the freeways is really quite insignificant.

Good luck with seeing anything from a plane coming into Beijing! Sometimes at PEK you can only see the ground in the last few minutes of approach, and barely see from one end of the runway to the other in the haze (that is of course all due to sand/dust coming from the Gobi desert ) Of course if the winds are favorable the views can be spectacular.

 

[penegal]

snopes.com: Great Wall From Space

Good reference. When you visit the Great Wall you can see flaw in the logic of the myth around it's visibility. The wall's width in comparison to many of the freeways is really quite insignificant.

Good luck with seeing anything from a plane coming into Beijing! Sometimes at PEK you can only see the ground in the last few minutes of approach, and barely see from one end of the runway to the other in the haze (that is of course all due to sand/dust coming from the Gobi desert ) Of course if the winds are favorable the views can be spectacular.

Good to know that this has been MythBusted. I remember it being spouted as a cardinal truth in school.

As I speculated in post #3 the wall is not particularly wide, or even intact. On a good day it may be visible from low altitude, but given the 'normal' weather around PEK I would be surprised if you saw anything. other than your seat mate or maybe the wing-tip.

 

[jukebox333]

Just a bit of housekeeping to close out this thread

Yes, we did see the Great Wall of China from the plane - parts of it were quite clearly visible on the hills on the L/H side of the aircraft as we approached Beijing from the North inbound, and then again, this time on the right, as we took off towards the North (and the latter was actually flagged by the Capt. in the pre-take off announcement - well done CX!) as we turned 180 degrees, and south for HKG.


It was 2nd Jan, 8:30am and -15C on the ground - but before the latest horror smog alerts - so of course YMMV.