Backgrounder: The Great Wall

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 22, 2002

Backgrounder: The Great Wall

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

The Great Wall, also known as the Ten Thousand Li (One li equals 0.5 kilometers) Great Wall, is the biggest defense work and one of the greatest architectural miracles in human history. It is on top of China's 10 most popular tourist attractions.

The Great Wall has a long history. Separated sections of the wall were built as early as 2,000 years ago by small kingdoms as defense against raids from nomadic tribes to the north.

When Emperor Qin Shihuang united China for the first time in 221 B.C., he ordered the separate sections linked together, forming a complete military defense system.

The Great Wall was extended to the Yumen Pass in today's Gansu Province during the Han Dynasty ((206 B.C.-220 A.D.). The Great Wall as we see it today was mostly built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Today, the total length of the Great Wall, sections of which run parallel in various areas, stands at about 6,700 kilometers. The Badaling section of the Great Wall in the suburbs of Beijing is a typical reflection of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall is now on the UNESCO's list of World Cultural Heritage sites.

The wall at this section averages seven to eight meters in height, six to seven meters in thickness, with a width of five meters on top.

The Badaling section runs about 3,741 meters on a mountain of about 700 to 800 meters high above sea level, dotted with 19 beacon towers.

Over the past five decades, more than 90 million tourists, including 20 million from overseas, have visited the Badaling section, which has become a must place for visiting foreign VIPs. In 1998, when he visited China, former U.S. President Bill Clinton toured the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall to the northeast of Beijing.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Backgrounder: the Great Hall of the People

Backgrounder: Chronology of Meetings Between Chinese President Jiang and U.S. Presidents

>> Full Coverage