The Great Wall

The Great Wall, the symbol of the Chinese nation, stretches 6,350 kilometers from Shanhaiguan Pass on the east coast to Jiayuguan Pass in the Gobi Desert. It is classified as a world Cultural Heritage. The best preserved and most imposing section of the wall is at Badaling, 80 kilometers north of Beijing, but the magnitude and beauty of the wall can also be seen at Jinshanling, Mutianyu, and Simatai.

Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. The vassal states under the Chou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defence purposes. After the state of Chin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Tsongnoo tribes in the north and extended them to more than 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometers. This is the origin of the name of the 10,000-li Great Wall .

The Great Wall was renovated from time to time after the Chin Dynasty. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today is almost exactly the result of this effort. With a total length of over 6,000 kilometers, it extends to the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west and to the mouth of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east.