The Great Wall of China (INQUIRER.net Stock Photo)
Two men, aged 20 and 26, planned to steal bricks from the Great Wall of China, but ended up getting stuck on a cliff edge and calling for help.
The men, who came from Langfang City in Heibei, apparently thought the bricks would bring good luck to their homes and planned to steal some, as per Beijing Evening News via The South China Morning Post on Dec. 30. But in an unfortunate turn of events, the pair got lost while trying to cross a snowy mountain near the wall’s Mutianyu section in the Huairou District of Beijing.
The two were found shivering by rescuer Chen Funing on a cliff edge that was over 50 meters high on Dec. 26, as per the report. They had been calling for help for about four hours and were discovered with an empty bag, which they said they were going to use for picking up litter.
Authorities, however, found out that they had gone to a restaurant not far off before crossing the mountain and told its staff they were going to steal some bricks from the Great Wall.
The two men were eventually permitted to go home by the police after being warned that what they were planning to do was risky and illegal.
As per the report, only less than 10% of the Great Wall is composed of bricks, as erosion and theft have reduced its brickwork through the years. The Great Wall of China has a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers and was built from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD, according to UNESCO. It has been considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, with its varied components listed as state or provincial priority protected sites under China law. Cody Cepeda /ra
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