GREAT WALL OF CHINA
In c.221 BC, during the Chin Dynasty, China was subject to invasions from the North. At this time it was the Emperor Qin Shi Huang who ruled, and he who commissioned the construction of what was to be known as the Great Wall of China.
Although this original Great Wall of China didn’t survive completely, it was rebuilt in the centuries later and even to this day the wall that was built during the Ming Dynasty still stands. It is 5,500 miles in length, stretching from Lop Nur in Western China, to Shanghaiguan in Eastern China, and incorporates not only stone wall, but also defensive barriers and trenches too.
The construction of the Great Wall of China, also known in China as ‘Wan-Li Qang Qeng’ which literally translates to ten thousand li-long wall (‘li’ is around 5000 kilometres), was an incredible feat. Builders used whatever they could that was in the area, because transporting stone was so difficult. When building on mountains, they used the rock from them, but then when on flat ground they used tightly compacted earth. Valencia commented that all the materials used to build the Great Wall of China were enough to build a wall around the equator, five metres high and one metre thick.
Today the Great Wall of China is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one that is fiercely protected as it is in danger of being lost to the sands of the Badain Jaran desert. However, it is still very much open to tourists; many of whom take up the challenge of trying to walk certain lengths of it.
In c.221 BC, during the Chin Dynasty, China was subject to invasions from the North. At this time it was the Emperor Qin Shi Huang who ruled, and he who commissioned the construction of what was to be known as the Great Wall of China.
Although this original Great Wall of China didn’t survive completely, it was rebuilt in the centuries later and even to this day the wall that was built during the Ming Dynasty still stands. It is 5,500 miles in length, stretching from Lop Nur in Western China, to Shanghaiguan in Eastern China, and incorporates not only stone wall, but also defensive barriers and trenches too.
The construction of the Great Wall of China, also known in China as ‘Wan-Li Qang Qeng’ which literally translates to ten thousand li-long wall (‘li’ is around 5000 kilometres), was an incredible feat. Builders used whatever they could that was in the area, because transporting stone was so difficult. When building on mountains, they used the rock from them, but then when on flat ground they used tightly compacted earth. Valencia commented that all the materials used to build the Great Wall of China were enough to build a wall around the equator, five metres high and one metre thick.
Today the Great Wall of China is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one that is fiercely protected as it is in danger of being lost to the sands of the Badain Jaran desert. However, it is still very much open to tourists; many of whom take up the challenge of trying to walk certain lengths of it.
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