China’s Amazing Tunnel Network

By James Donahue

Research conducted by students at Georgetown University, using Chinese military documents, Internet data and satellite imagery, has revealed the existence of an amazing network of tunnels perhaps thousands of miles in length under the Republic of China.

The tunnels, carved by the Chinese military’s Second Artillery Corps, are believed to be protecting a battery of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. But this is only a theory. That the United States also is believed to have a similar tunnel network in place in preparation for nuclear or some other apocalyptic disaster is equally disturbing. Are world leaders preparing for something that has been kept secret from the rest of us?

What is remarkable about China’s tunnel network is that most, if not all of the work has been done by hand. Even if the Georgetown University study is wrong about the so-called “Great Tunnels of China,” the people of that nation have been carving an amazing network of tunnels for years that are only recently becoming known to the outside world.

There exists under Beijing a complete underground city that has been under construction since it was ordered by the late Chairman Mao in 1969. At the time the work was started, the tunnels and caverns were designed as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war and a place for not only government leaders, but the entire population of Beijing to flee.

The original tunnel network under Beijing was described as “dark, damp and eerie,” but extensive renovation has been going on there since 2008. The network is said to cover a 33-square-mile area and is located nearly 60 feet below the surface. There are an estimated 90 entrances, all hidden in shops along the main streets of Qianmen.

It is said that the Beijing complex is equipped with restaurants, clinics, schools, theaters, factories, a grain and oil warehouse and mushroom cultivation farm for food production.

Yet another remarkable excavation by the Chinese people has been the Guoliang Tunnel in the Taihang Mountains. Actually the work is much more than just a single tunnel. It amounts to a complete roadway along the side of a mountain in Henan Province that winds either at the edge of lofty cliffs or burrows through various tunnels in and out of the mountain.

This interesting tunnel roadway was built in 1972 to provide access to a tiny mountain village of Gualiang, a community of about 300 people. Before the roadway was built, the only way to reach the town was to scale a sky ladder on the side of the mountain. While interesting and even beautiful to explore, the road to Gualiang is considered among the most dangerous roads to drive in the world.

There are numerous other tunnels the provide clearance for automobile traffic and train traffic to travel through the mountains and even under waterways to and from the many cities and towns in China.