The Great Wall of China: The urban legend is that China’s wall is the only man-made object visible from space. That is partly fiction and partly fact. Fortified during the Ming Dynasty (1388-1644 B.C.), the 1,500 mile wall is certainly visible from a low orbit in space. But so are other man-made artifacts—cities, railroads and so on. Higher up, report the astronauts, nothing man-made is visible. Nevertheless, it is a major (and tourist-endangered) attraction in China, and at least in part lives up—way up—to its lore.
