The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China.  

Nearly 4,000 miles, the Great Wall was built to prevent hostile nomadic groups-- the Hns, Khitans, Moguls, and the Manchus-- from invading.  Parts of the wall date back to the 7th century BC, when many ducal states walled along their boundaries.  The Wall didn't become a unified structure until the about the third century, BC, when China became a unified nation.   

 The average height of the wall is 32 feet/10 meters and built along the ridge of the mountains.  On average is about 16 feet wide-- wide enough for about 10 men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder or five calvary. Watchtowers, moats, and signal towers dot the structure.  Steps are built uneven, to prevent any invading troops from rushing up the wall.

uneven steps. 

As a defensive measure, the Wall was a spectacular failure.  It didn't keep the invading forces out; the Ming Dynasty fell in 1644 to a peasant rebellion helped by outside armies.  Though the years, the Wall has fallen into various stages of disrepair.  In 1987, UNSECO named it a World Heritage site and several places of the Wall are being fixed up.

Two "Calvary" Men 

Chinese graffiti on the Wall 

the group on the Wall 

We went to Badaling, the closet part of the Wall to Beijing.  It is also the part of the Wall that is in the best shape-- this is where the Chinese government brings visiting dignitaries.  There is a point, towards the west, where the Wall does dissolve into ruins.  We weren't able to go to that section, but we could see it.

about to start the walk up at Badaling 

And despite the common belief, astronauts cannot see the Wall from space.  When the American astronaut, William Pogue, reported that he could see it from Skylab, he discovered later it was actually the Grand Canal near Beijing.