China Great Wall
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty.
The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.
Great Wall Sections:
As can be seen above, the Great Wall of China extends 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Gansu Province east to the seaside town of Shanhaiguan.
Here we introduce five sections which we recommend to see the best and greatest variety of the Great Wall. See "Great Wall Sections by Region" for a full list of Great Wall sections open to the public:The Great Wall at Mutianyu ,Badaling Greatwall,The Simatai Great Wall ,Shanhaiguan Greatwall,Jiayuguan Greatwall
History of Great Wall:
The Great Wall of China was built mainly to protect the Chinese Empire from northern invaders. The first sections were built in the Seventh Century BC when China was still divided into many small states.
The construction of the Great Wall continued until the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644). Now, in the PRC era, several sections of the wall have been restored as tourist attractions and in other places the wall is quite well preserved.
Great Wall Construction:
The history of the construction of the Great Wall of China can be dated back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC - 771 BC). But the Great Wall at that time was only a line of fortresses standing to defend against attacks from the Yanyun (an ancient nomadic tribe in north China). The Period of the Warring States (476 BC - 221 BC) was an era when the seven states (Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qin) were busy engaging in Great Wall construction for self-defense. Instead of one line, their walls stretched in the four directions and varied in length from several hundred miles to one or two thousand miles.
Great Wall Culture:
Lots of beautiful legends and stories about the Great Wall took place following along the construction, and since that time these stories have spread around the country. Those that happened during construction are abundant, such as Meng Jiangnu's story and the legend of the Jiayuguan Pass.
Meng Jiangnu's story is the most famous and widely spread of all the legends about the Great Wall. The story happened during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). It tells of how Meng Jiangnu's bitter weeping made a section of the Great Wall collapse. Meng Jiangnu's husband Fan Qiliang was caught by federal officials and sent to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu heard nothing from him after his departure, so she set out to look for him. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the great wall, she discovered that her husband had already died. Hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. Her howl caused the collapse of a part of the Great Wall. This story indicates that the Great Wall is the production of tens of thousands of Chinese commoners.
Great Wall Protection:
Being one of the world cultural and natural heritages, the Great Wall of China, belongs to the world, so everyone has the responsibility to protect it. Visitors should behave themselves on the wall, never defacing the bricks, never moving the bricks and never throwing litter about. People who live near the wall should not take bricks, stones and earth from the wall to build their own houses, or dig in the wall for sheepfolds or latrines. Officials should complete and enforce relevant regulations and laws. In September of 2006, the State Council promulgated the regulation on the protection of the Great Wall which went into effect on December 1 of the same year.
