The Miracle of All Times----The Great Wall

The Miracle of All Times----The Great Wall

Listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, the Great Wall is a true marvel and a testament to the long history of the Chinese Civilization. The Great Wall stretches from ShanHai Pass 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 in April 2009, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 kilometers.

It’s believed that the Great Wall was firstly in Warring States period(475-221 B.C.), and primarily strengthened in three dynasties: the Qin(221-206B.C.), the Han(202B.C.-220A.D.), and the Ming(1368-1644). In the early days, the Great Wall was as much a demarcation of territory as a defense as such, but as the Great Wall became stronger, its defense role increased. The building styles of each dynasty added their own flavor and advanced the techniques learned from the previous. Where possible, natural barriers were integrated into the path of the wall. It’s said that the length of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers is about 2,232.5 kilometers.

The first emperor, Qin Shihuang, who unified China by force set about constructing one Great Wall—by joining existing one and filling the gaps. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Some parts of the Great Wall have almost disappeared. Some parts have been overwhelmed by the elements. Some have been buried by the desert. Others eroded by local people recycling the wall’s materials for constructing in their villages. Most of the walls that we are familiar with today were built in Ming Dynasty, which built the biggest, longest, strongest and most ornate Great Wall ever.

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts on the eastern end at ShanHai Pass, near Qin hungdao, in Hebei Province, next to Bohai Sea. It once spanned 9 provinces and 100 counties, but the final 500 kilometers of the  Great Wall to the west have all but turned to rubble. Today, the western end of the Great Wall effectively ends at the historic site of Jiayu Pass, in northwest GanSu Province, at the limit of the Gobi Desert and the oases of the Silk Road.

The ShanHai Pass mentioned above is one of the most famous passes of the Great Wall. It’s known as the First Pass under Heaven. To the east of it, there is a Meng Jiangnv Temple, which was built in memory of Meng Jiangnv, the heroine of the most popular folklore concerning the Great Wall of China. The husband of Meng Jiangnv was forced to go to the construction site for the Great Wall in the nuptial night. Meng JIangnv waited for the return of her husband and months went by like centuries. When winter came, she decided to visit him and bring him some clothes. However, she arrived at the site only to find her husband toiled to death and buried under the Great Wall. She was so sad that she kept crying for 7 days and nights. Finally, part of the Great Wall fell apart and the body of her husband appeared.

Besides the ShanHai Pass, another famous part of Great Wall should be Badaling, which is the most representative and best-protected part the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty. More than 400 celebrities like Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and Viadimir Putin etc. have visited and 130 million tourists have been there. After the Beijing Olympics,  you could visit there, being greeted by the Olympic structure “ One World, One Dream”, which could be seen in the MV of Beijing welcomes you.

Today, more and more people from all over the world are visiting the Great Wall of China, to stand on a watchtower and view the wall snaking into the distance. Why don’t you stand up, take a package with you and walk on the Great Wall? The one who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. You might take a photo with certain head of state, if you’re lucky enough.