Facts: 1.The Great Wall is some 4000 miles long. 2. The wall took 2100 years to build. 3. It took millions of soldiers and labourers to construct. 4. Is the longest man made structure in world. 5. The worlds largest graveyard runs beside the wall. 6. In a ten day period 500000 men perished. 7. The wall is one of the wonders of the World.
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Great Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China, a combination of many walls, extends for 1500 miles and winds across Northern China from Gansu Province to Hebei Province on the Yellow Sea and was constructed as a defence against the northern nomads. Although it was to be of little military significance, the Great Wall is a monument to human Endeavour and relentless achievement, a meandering Man made structure that seems to connect all of China�s endless horizons. Some of its towers served as the soldiers� living quarters and also played an essential role in communicating messages. The advance of hostile troops was signaled with large fires and cannon shot and any relevant military information was then communicated from tower to tower until it reached a fortress close to the capital of Beijing.Global Treasures – History’s Most Protected Monuments – Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world’s heritage. Join us as we explore one of these protected monuments.
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Visting the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
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The Great Wall of China is not just an ordinary travel icon; besides the role it plays in China’s tourism, it has led to the development of China’s long history and culture. People are curious to understand the facts of how the great wall came about; however, it is not until one visits this majestic structure, you can truly understand the significance of the great wall to China and the rest of the world.
The origin of story of the great wall is unknown, but history shows that the construction of the wall began in the early seventh century B.C and was made out of stone, wood, grass and earth. This was when the earliest regional kingdom was built for the defensive military needs. The purpose was to protect the farming lands from the invasion of the tribes from the north and to hold the natives from vacating the lands. Used as a military demarcation, there were various watchtowers which stood at varying distances from each other; these towers substituted the time warning system used during the ancient times. The fire and smoke signaled the day and night time respectively. Many of these watch towers still remain in their original position where they stood while some have been destroyed during the revolution.
Over the years, parts of the great wall was destroyed and rebuilt and more sections were added. Due to this construction, it stretched so wide from the east to the west bordering almost the entire country. At present, they say it measures about 7300km from one end to the other.
There are different sections to travel the wall, all of which have different attractions and features. The sections also represent the roles played during the construction of the great wall. For adventure lovers, it would be a challenging task to travel the entire length of the wall. The Great Wall Marathon and Half Marathon is an annual marathon race which takes place every year in China. For runners and adventures, this marathon is one of the experiences of a lifetime as they run through 7km of the incredible wall passing through beautiful countryside villages and mountain trails.
For tourists on short stays in China, climbing the great wall from almost any part of northern china is possible, although, many travelers prefer to climb the wall from Beijing because the sections of this part of the wall are very good for sightseeing and have great features. Besides that, it affords them the opportunity to see other historical attractions like the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Tiananmen Square etc.
The most popular sections to visit and climb the great wall in Beijing are the Badaling, Simatai, and Mutianyu sections.
Badaling section of the great wall is located 70 km away from the center of Beijing and is the most popular section to climb the wall in Beijing. It was the first part of the wall to be opened to tourists. History has it that Badaling section was built to protect the Juyongguan Pass, along which the Guan’gou gorge and several interesting sites of interest are located. This section of the Great Wall was made by huge bar stones and paved with square bricks making the wall pavement smoothly ordered. The Badaling section became a national cultural relic and a world heritage listing by United Nations in 1987.
Simatai section in Beijing is a very remote and quiet section on the great wall. The ruins and untouched parts of this section is what helped Simatai section earn its reputation of being the unique section of the wall. There are features retained from over the years which were untouched and looks like what it used to be like over 500 years ago. This section of the wall has about twelve watch towers at different intervals and takes about 2hours to reach the twelfth tower. Simatai section is great for adventure hikers and trekkers.
The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is located on Huairou County northeast of Beijing. This section of the wall is known for its unique quality of construction and features compared to other sections of the wall. It is known as the main essence of the great wall because of the style which it was built.
In Summary, traveling the great wall is one of the greatest experiences of a lifetime and it is difficult to understand its history until it is visited. It is assumed to be one of the top 100 things to do in this lifetime.
For more information about China Travel, China Tour Vacations, visit Passport to China.
Lola writes about travel and adventure tours for China Tour & China Travels a foreign inbound tour operator in China.
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For more about Great Wall of China travel, facts, history and info, go to www.great-wall-of-china.org
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The Great Wall of China was initially built as separated walls by different states before the unification of China to protect their land from invasions. After the Qin Dynasty proved to be the most powerful and took over most of the lands, Emperor Qin Shi Huang connected several walls and built the first Great Wall of China between 220–206 BC, and, thus, called “10,000 li Wall.” The wall was established to prevent any invasion attempts and savage attacks by the northern nomadic tribes and dynasties. However, Genghis Khan, a known leader who united northern nomadic tribes, was able to penetrate the wall and able to conquer northern China, which spread all over the country later on. After the Mongol Empire, China was once again back to the leadership of their countrymen; this time, the Ming Dynasty emerged to be the most powerful. During the Ming Dynasty, the concept of the Great Wall was revived once again. The Ming Dynasty revived, reconstruct, and further elongated the Great Wall of China under its 10 year project. They adopted the strategies used by Mongols to penetrate the walls. They further extended it to the desert where the nomadic tribes used to came from. Unlike the earlier walls, Ming used bricks and stones instead of rammed earth to strengthen it, and devoted on reconstruction and repair of the walls as Mongols continued their attempts. This explains why others claim that the construction of the Great Wall of China was finished in 1644 under the Ming Dynasty.
723 beacon towers and 7,062 lookout towers of today complete Great Wall of China can explain that the “wall” was purposely built for protection reasons. As told, they were initially built as barriers between states during the Warring Period, and later between the land of Qin Dynasty and the northern dynasties. They also tactically served, although proven not successful in driving away invaders, to slow down invading attempts to penetrate into the Qin’s land. However, unlike other defense mechanisms of any country today, the Great Wall of China costs no amount upon building. Men that physically contributed to building the structure received no amount in hand. They were forced to labor, establishing the Great Wall during the Qin Dynasty. They were pushed to work as slaves under the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Rumors even said that thousands of workers died in fatigue and starvation, and that their bodies were buried in the wall itself. During the early times, the Great Wall of China justified its purpose of stopping war between dynasties, but not until the Mongol invaders penetrated the wall and invade most of China. To the right is a picture of a Beacon tower.
Another famous penetration in the wall was the known first Battle of Shanhai Pass in Shanhaiguan in 1644. This is a decisive battle of Qing over the Ming Dynasty, which signaled the end of the Ming Dynasty and crowned Qing to reign over China, making Qing Dynasty the last dynasty in the history of China. Additionally, conflicts again arose in the Great Wall of China between Chinese and Japanese soldiers.
During the 20th century, several bloody battles had been witnessed by the Great Wall of China; one of those was the second Battle of the Shanhai Pass. In 1901 at Shanhaiguan, the extreme eastern end of the Great Wall of China, the Chinese 626th regiment of the Northeastern Army met the Japanese 8th division using 4 armored trains and 10 tanks supported by warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s IJN 2nd Fleet with a dozen warships offshore. This battle cost the resignation of Chinese regimental commander Shi Shian, in January 3 of 1933, and lives of half of his men and around 500 Japanese soldiers.
Learn more Great wall of China facts including its construction over 2000 years, how many battles fought over it, the development of the Qin & Chin dynasties, how the wall is spread over Mongolia & Beijing & lots more.
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The Great Wall of China was built primarily to purposely drive away the Mongol nomads and barbarians away from the northern parts of the country during the Qin Dynasty in 221-206 BCE: 723 beacon towers and 7,062 lookout towers explain the reason for building this magnificent wall. It is believed that Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, the first unified emperor of China, forced approximately 1,000,000 people living inside China to initially worked with bricks and earth from wooden frames to make the first sets of walls. It is also believed that over a million people died, upon finishing the first set of the walls, in building the first Great Wall of China during the Qin Dynasty.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty continued the strengthening and elongation of the walls by adding layers of red willow reeds and twigs and gravels to the soils and bricks. These are much stronger than what the Qin Dynasty have built. The walls successfully served as a barrier and protection for Chinese people for many years under different dynasties. However, finally, after continuous invasion attempts, in 1215, Genghis Khan became the first Mongol to penetrate the walls and took over the Northern China for years, and later spread over most of China. This piece of history made the claim that the Mongols became the first successful rulers to invade part of China after the great wall was established. The Mongols ruled most of China until they fall in 1368, during those times, the Great Wall of China was left from construction and reconstruction.
After the Qin walls, however, several additional walls were added the following millennia by some less powerful and small dynasties, but the major construction was made under the Ming Dynasty (1388-1644 CE). The Ming Dynasty made the longest and the most concrete walls by having the product of the methods used by the preceding dynasties. The Ming Dynasty concreted the walls over the most dangerous terrains in China including those in the steepest mountains and grasslands. They made a standard measurement of the walls with 25 feet high (7.6 meters), 15 to 30 feet wide at the base (4.6 to 9.1 meters), and from 9 to 12 feet wide at the top (2.7 to 3.7 meters), with guard stations and watch towers placed at regular intervals. The Ming Wall begins at Yalujiang River, presently located Heilongjiang province, through Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia provinces, to Gansu, reaching a total length of about 5,200 km or 2,400 miles. These are the walls we are now familiar today.
After many wars fought in and defended by The Great Wall of China under several dynasties, the walls came into rest for a long time with many reconstructions and restoration until the Japanese invasion in The Second World War. Unlike wars during ancient dynasties, the walls served not simply as a watch tower for soldiers, but several battles between Chinese and Japanese soldiers literally took place in The Great Wall of China. Several seesaw battles were fought in many passes in the walls, which ended in the defeat of underarmed Chinese soldiers.
Due to several restorations under many centuries, the walls built by dynasties before the Ming Dynasty were not visible anymore due to natural erosion and manmade activities. The walls that we can see today are those mostly built by the Ming Dynasty. In 1987, UNESCO listed The Great Wall of China as one of the world heritage sites. Today, The Great Wall of China is constantly visited by millions of tourist all over the world in a year. The first section opened to tourist and the most visited today in 1957 is the Badaling, near Beijing. It was also the portion of the great wall where the most famous Nixon visit in China landed. Since the visit of Nixon, The Great Wall of China increased its tourist visits every year, which led to more comprehensive campaigns to preserve the wonder of the world.
In 2009, recent discovery added additional 290 kilometers or 180 miles to the length of The Great Wall of China. Additional portion built by the Ming Dynasty was discovered, which is located from Hushan mountains in the northern Liaoning province to Jiayuguan in western Gansu province. It is believed that it was submerged by sandstorm in that particular area over time. Presently, selected areas of the Great Wall of China gain visitors from all over the world for purposes of sight seeing, relaxation, photo taking, hiking, and further studies regarding the past Chinese culture.
Today, with its over 2,000 years of establishment, The Great Wall of China signifies not only the history and the Chinese culture but also the strength of the country and the dedication of its people.
Learn more Great wall of China facts including its construction over 2000 years, how many battles fought over it, the development of the Qin & Chin dynasties, how the wall is spread over Mongolia & Beijing & lots more.
Article from articlesbase.com
Question by varsitythoo@yahoo.co.uk: Where can I find another “Great Wall of China” in my job and career, I will act dumb, miss all of you…
Best answer:
Answer by Tan Seri Gabby Baby
in china
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Question by Farfletched: Is it true that the naked eye cannot see the “GREAT WALL OF CHINA” unless you are in space?
Best answer:
Answer by Buddha
Unfortunately the Great Wall of China cannot really be seen from space. It was just a myth.
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