Happy Chinese New Year and best wishes in the year of the Snake!

We’re not certain whether you can actually see the Great wall from space – but what is true is that several parts of this amazing monument are underwater! This Great Wall at Huanghuacheng, in the northern Beijing district of Huairou – was flooded when a reservoir was built to serve the local area. When SLRC researcher, Simon Fitch, visited the lake it was frozen, but it was rather spectacular to see the wall under the ice.

Intriguingly, this isn’t the only section of the great wall that is flooded (nor the deepest !). A section of the wall, and a tower, at Panjiakou Reservoir (built 1977) is now under 30m of water and is a major dive site in China.

If we find anything like this at sea – we’ll tell you (and Graham Hancock!)