Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

The Great Wall is in danger of being an "also ran" among the "New 7 Wonders" being decided by an online poll. One might think that would lead to a call-to-arms, a rallying cry for China's 144 million netizens to punch in and drive their heritage site to the top.

But doing so, Beijing Newspeak says, would imply that the Wall is losing, and that might make China look bad.

Dezza over at Mask of China says he'll be retiring his blog fairly soon. The China Blogosphere will miss him, for sure.

The Great Wall was first built during the War States Period (475-221 BC) in various sections so that China might defend itself from northern invasions.

It has been added on and added on and

A 13,112-meter-long painting scroll is stretched out along the Juyongguan Pass section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 13, 2008, to mark the 7th anniversary of China's winning the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games

Teacher, photographer and blogger Dezza (Mask of China) relays his brush (off) with a China Daily HK reporter who got pissed when asked the paper's circulation, and made a joking remark about the CCP mouthpiece's quality. The comment was not meant to offend the (laowai) reporter, but he was told "It would be best not to offend those who can help you," despite it being he who was doing the favour.

The Wall Street Journal links to chinaSMACK. Fauna thanks Lost Laowai, Shanghaiist, Digital Magazine (Japan), and every reader for their support.

The Chinese people have always face two major problems: one is to avoid getting whacked; and the other is to avoid hunger.

In the past, China kept getting whacked by foreigners. The people were constantly harassed and attacked near the borders. So, they build the "Long Wall" - called the Great Wall by the impressed foreigners - to block all invading adversaries from harming them. Dynasty after dynasty, the walls are consistently maintained and even expanded.

Pingyao is a beautiful town preserving the architectural aesthetics of Chinese traditional buildings. It is distinguished from other places in China in that it has well preserved its architecture and urban landscape of China’s Ming and Qing dynasties, earning it a place on the UNESCO world heritage list. Because it is relatively unknown, the city is not swamped with tourists yet and the local government has done a good job in preserving the 2,700-year old city – it is the best preserved wall-city in China.

We all know Michael Scofield’s famous tattoo in Prison Break but tattooing The Great Wall of China, dragons, Olympic rings, symbols of Olympic sports and Fuwa? on your body sure comes close in some way.