Dìxià Chángchéng

Underground Great Wall

The term 地下長城 aka 地下长城 (Dìxià Chángchéng, Underground Great Wall) is used for different things. Most of them are actually of military importance, similar to the actual Great Wall. We separate four different types of subterranea which were dubbed Underground Great Wall. The oldest type is contemporary with the actual Great Wall, and hence in our opinion the only one which actually deserves the name. The other three types are modern structures of the 20th century, and in a way the name is either a code name or simply a nickname.

• The oldest are tunnels and tunnel systems with military use. They are from the Middle Ages, more than 1,000 years old. The oldest were built at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. More tunnel systems were built during the Tang and Song Dynasty, the older tunnels were mostly still in use and were renovated several times. At some time they were forgotten, filled in or destroyed by floods. Many were rediscovered during the 20th centuries, by accident, during the digging of a well or during the construction of a bunker in the Cold War.
  • See also
  • Cao Cao’s Military Transport Route
  • Dìxià Chángchéng
• After the end of dynastic rule in 1912, the Republic of China was created. But in the 1920 the war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party (KMT) began. This bitter Chinese Civil War was fought over decades and finally ended in 1949. At that time also a huge system of tunnels, mines and bunkers was used by the communists, mostly for guerrilla warfare against the Republic as well as the Japanese intruders.
  • See also
  • Beijing Jiaozhuanghu Memorial Hall of Tunnel Warfare Site
• The Chinese cities have vast underground bunkers which were built during the Cold War and were dubbed Underground Great Wall. This is a misnomer, as those cities are actually not military structures, they are civil defence shelters. The most famous is Beijing, an underground city big enough for 40 % of the population at that time. Later the need for living space made people move underground and finally the bunker became a part of the city with underground restaurants, bars, and shops. Even there the rent is so expensive that most people live in tiny rooms. Some years ago there were tours into the bunker, but they were discontinued, most likely for political reasons.
  • See also
  • Beijing’s Underground City
• Huge tunnels with a length of about 5,000 km were created for the transport and storage of atomic weapons. The existence was top secret, but for some reason the government published their existence in 2009. A Georgetown University team led by Phillip Karber conducted a three-year study mapping out the tunnel network. They were also named Underground Great Wall of China, its unclear if this was a code name or simply a nickname. Obviously those are military objects and not accessible for tourists, but some were decommissioned and opened to the public.
  • See also
  • Underground Project 131
  • 816 Military Nuclear Plant
  • Underground Great Wall of China - Wikipedia (visited: 10-NOV-2025)

• See also
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