Political statement visible from space found on Google Maps near Great Wall of China

Massive Chinese characters seemingly etched into land near The Great Wall of China have been spotted on Google Maps, prompting them to ask Redditors what it means.

The characters are so large they can be seen from space on Google Maps and given their close proximity to The Great Wall of China, it's easy to see how someone could stumble across them.

The person posted a screenshot of the image on the Reddit forum r/googlemapsshenanigans, and asked, "What does it say?" along with the coordinates, 40.4499299, 116.5487750.

Reddit users immediately responded explaining the statement is a tribute to Chairman Mao, the founder of the People's Republic of China, who served as leader from 1949 until 1976.

"First character means "loyalty". So like the other commenter said. "Loyalty for Chairman Mao"," a user replied.

"This is the correct translation: “Loyal to Chairman Mao” or “My loyalty lies with Chairman Mao,”" another user verified.

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The statement, "loyalty to Chairman Mao" is actually a series of rock formations laid in the mountainous formations near to Mutianyu section of The Great Wall.

People who visit can see the slogan from watchtower No. 14.

The slogan was first laid down in the 1960s while Mao was still alive but years of vegetation overgrowth caused the slogan to become less and less visible.

Shortly before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the vegetation was cleared allowing the slogan to be seen again.

The subreddit r/googlemapsshenanigans prompts users to post about the interesting things they find on Google Maps. Often people are captured doing nefarious activities or strange-looking buildings.

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