• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Google Earth Blog

The amazing things about Google Earth

  • Home
  • About
  • Basics
  • Links
  • Tips
  • 3D Models
  • Sightseeing
  • Videos

Huge Scale Model of Disputed Border Region of China Found in Google Earth

July 20, 2006

Huge Scale Model of Mountain area in China in Google EarthThis is one of the most interesting finds in Google Earth in quite some time. A few weeks ago a first time poster, called KenGrok, at the Google Earth Community (GEC) discovered a very exact scale model of some mountainous region located in the middle of a desolate area in north central China. Seen in Google Earth the huge scale model is .9 km tall by .7 km wide. It is adjacent to what looks like a military base with many camouflaged vehicles. Last week, the same poster found the location the scale model represents – a region occupied by China but claimed by India near north central India. If you turn on the “Borders” layer in GE you will see they are colored red to indicate the dispute. Another GEC member showed how exact the scale model is by taking a screen shot of the satellite photo of the scale model and overlaying it over the real terrain (turn the image overlay on and off to see how exact it is). This scale model was most likely created for military reasons. Someone posted a description of why a military terrain visualization is critical for military purposes.
In the same thread above, several other interesting locations were found close to the scale model:

  • Model of an airport? – Post
  • Circle with fighter jets – a radar cross section range according to another post


You can also find other examples of military terrain models – see this Urban Warfare Training Center for the US Army.
Other amazing finds in Google Earth:

  • KC-135 Caught Refueling C-5 Galaxy in Mid-air
  • Lancaster Bomber Found Flying in Google Earth
  • Google Releases 3″ Resolution Aerial Photos of Las Vegas
  • Google Earth Sleuthing – Story of a Burning Ship
  • King Tut’s Tomb in 3D

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.

  • More Posts(1963)

Filed Under: Sightseeing

Reader Interactions






PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  1. Hugo says

    July 21, 2006 at 1:33 pm

    If you hoover around that Chinese “military” area you will see large numbers carved on top of the mountains. Any idea what those might be?

  2. Marc B. says

    July 21, 2006 at 6:17 pm

    If I’m not wrong, scale of the model is, aproximately, 1:500

  3. zain says

    October 1, 2006 at 4:10 am

    i think the numbers in chinese military area are some type of code . i think if we join the numbers 1-2-3..etc.. we get chinese alphabet (not sure). it may also be codes for fighter pilots who can see from above.

  4. kag says

    November 16, 2006 at 6:14 pm

    Those letters say: Ski Slope

  5. groovy says

    March 2, 2007 at 5:23 am

    These Chinese people think by doing all this they will be well equipped/ trained to fight India!!!…ha!!..
    The world politics should see this and take notice of this. What they are doing is not at all Justified.

  6. eric says

    July 10, 2007 at 1:16 am

    my concern is if china goes to war with india they might trash our economy to make sure we can’t do anything on either side, especially since they own something like 90% of our national debt. Facto in the new missile sub and all the other purchases. I don’t expect it next month, but sometime in the next quarter century china will do something big and stupid that will see a return to massive nationstates slugging it out and its either gonna be us and china or china and india.

  7. Red Rasta says

    October 3, 2007 at 7:20 am

    Maybe its some sort of controlled environment and they’re doing experiments and on people. Who knows, it could even be a rel life “Lost”.

  8. Shun jing says

    January 19, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    They are testing the giant father of all conventional bomb

  9. smokeonit says

    June 27, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    let’s not forget the footage is from april 2005… 4 years old!!!

  10. phutton11 says

    September 26, 2009 at 12:53 am

    The model airport and jets sitting in a circle along with all the other items in the area are simply targets in a bomber/fighter test site. You can find similar target sets in the Nevada desert.
    The real issue with China-India military planning is that China needs more water resources to both create electricity and to feed growing croplands. In order to get it they want to redirect the moutain originated rivers, that currently flow into India, to go to China instead. They know doing so would, by necessity, start a war with India. So they are creating area-by-area war plans and working out all the logistics and contingencies in advance.

  11. Mark says

    November 14, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    It’s voodoo for sure ! They hit something in the model and the real location goes boom and boom !

  12. peterg says

    November 14, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    it’s this place
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksai_Chin

  13. V. says

    November 15, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Why do each of these objects have the same coordinates? (mostly 40 and 93)

  14. Chuckles says

    November 21, 2011 at 11:59 am

    To the southeast of these seeming runways is a weird almost-square grid of intersecting diagonal lines forming triangles and trapezoidal shapes. What is the purpose of this?
    Also, both the “runways” and the lines of this grid have water runoff patterns going through them, which would seem to indicate that they’re not used by planes or even maintained very well. Very strange.

  15. The Courier says

    November 26, 2011 at 12:22 am

    Nah they’re just playin’ Fallout.

  16. Lianna says

    November 29, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    People are being paranoid.
    Think about it. If China really does declare war, they’re going to have to deal with a civil war in their own country as well. All the soldiers would be progeny of the generation that followed the single child policy. A war would decimate family lineages. Chinese people take a lot of stuff, but they won’t take having their children killed.

  17. supersteve says

    May 23, 2012 at 9:51 am

    Lol! C’mon peeps. This is just a cut and paste exercise for a bored GE tech. Good to know those guys have a sense of humor!



PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Primary Sidebar

RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Twitter




Categories

  • 3D Models (792)
  • Applications (708)
  • Business (288)
  • Environment (353)
  • Flying (208)
  • GE Plugin (282)
  • Google Earth News (1,764)
  • Google Earth Tips (592)
  • GPS (136)
  • Navigation (227)
  • Network Links (214)
  • Sailing (121)
  • Science (499)
  • Sightseeing (1,903)
  • Site News (587)
  • Sky (67)
  • Sports (154)
  • Street View (50)
  • Tours (117)
  • Video (421)
  • Weather (180)

Get new posts by email

Get new posts by email:

Google Earth Satellites

Copyright 2005-© 2022 Frank Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

This blog and its author are not an official source of information from Google that produces and owns Google Earth Google and Google Earth are trademarks of Google Inc.. All image screenshots from Google Earth are Copyright Google. All other trademarks appearing here are the trademarks of their respective owners.