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Oct 19, 2023 · The Great Wall of China is one of the most notorious structures in the entire world. The Jinshanling section in Hebei Province, China, pictured here, is only a small part of the wall that stretches over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles). The one thing most people “know” about the Great Wall of China—that it is one of the only man-made ...
Feb 5, 2018 · Explore the history and beauty of the Great Wall of China, one of the world's most impressive engineering marvels. Learn how it was built, why it was important, and how it has changed over time ...
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One of the world's greatest feats of engineering reveals the ingenuity of the ancients.
"The Great Wall impresses everyone who sees it for the first time, from children to adults, from the general tourists to scholars,” says Henry Ng, the manager of the World Monuments Fund’s China projects. “The vastness of the structure helps children grasp the great achievements in human history—from the Great Wall to the great pyramids—and can help inspire them to learn more about human achievements over the millennia.”
Constructed over a period of 2,000 years, the stone sentry actually consists of many great walls, some dating back to the fifth century B.C. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, ordered these earlier long wall sections linked and extended with watchtowers to protect the new empire from marauding northern tribes. Succeeding emperors and dynasties continued the construction, spreading westward into the Gobi desert to guard the Silk Road. All together, the walls may have stretched more than 30,000 miles.
“Because the walls were defensive structures, you can learn about building and engineering skills throughout ancient China as well as its military history and strategies,” Ng says.
“The wall raised my daughter’s awareness of China’s long history,” says Beijing resident Pan Ningxin, who took her daughter Mengmeng, eight, to the wall at Badaling. “We talked about the function of the Great Wall when it was built, so she got some idea of the wars between nations and how dynasties change.”
Early sections of the wall were built from layers of rammed earth and local materials—red palm fronds in the Gobi desert, wild poplar trunks in the Tarim Basin, reeds in Gansu. Many of these sections have eroded over the centuries; the Great Legacy of an Ancient Time Wall as we know it largely dates from the Ming dynasty from the 14th to the 17th centuries. The Ming wall stretches nearly 4,500 miles from Shanhaiguan Pass on the Bohai Sea to Jiayuguan Pass in the Gobi.
Insider Tip: The Great Wall was designed for protection, but don’t forget the forts that were another part of China’s defenses. The 16th-century Yaoziyu Fort, for example, is the best preserved of Huanghuacheng’s six forts. Changyucheng Village was founded 500 years ago to guard one of the wall’s most important passes.
Books for Kids:
The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy; illustrated by Mou-Sien Tseng (1992): This beautifully illustrated book tells the old Chinese folktale of seven brothers with extraordinary abilities, who band together and use their powers to challenge the emperor’s mistreatment of his workers on the Great Wall.
Books for Parents:
The Great Wall: From Beginning to End by William Lindesay and Michael Yamashita (2007): The story of Lindesay’s hike along the entire Ming wall, from the Yellow Sea to the desert foothills of the Qilian Mountains, is accompanied by Michael Yamashita’s photos.
Music:
Dec 31, 2018 · To build the Great Wall. This poem, written by Emperor Yangdi at the beginning of the seventh century A.D., is a lyrical reminder of the centuries spent by the Chinese building a wall to repel ...
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Aug 24, 2010 · The Great Wall of China was conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. and eventually spanned more than 13,000 miles across northern China.
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Feb 17, 2018 · China’s Great Wall is one of the world’s great feats of engineering and an enduring monument to the strength of an ancient civilization. Subscribe: http://b...
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May 9, 2024 · Great Wall of China, extensive bulwark erected in ancient China, one of the largest building-construction projects ever undertaken. The Great Wall actually consists of numerous walls—many of them parallel to each other—built over some two millennia across northern China and southern Mongolia. The most extensive and best-preserved version of ...
