The Great Wall of China

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This article talks about The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure on earth. Located in the northern part of the country, what was once a huge military line of defence has now become a one of its kind world heritage site. It is one of the biggest ancient architecture and is located in a very scenic place.

Here are some popular attractions around the place:

  • The Forbidden City 
  • The Great Wall
  • The Temple of Heaven
  • The Summer Palace

    The wall is made up of cement, rocks and powdered dirt. It was finished in the year 1878 and was meant to protect the north of the empire of China from the attacks of the enemy. It is the longest structure to have ever built by humans. 

    There have been nineteen walls have been built that were called the Great Wall of China.  The wall thaat is currently present was built during the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

Here are some quick facts about The Great Wall of China:

  • The length of the Great Wall of China is said to be 21,196.18 km.
  • It is also said that the Great Wall is about 2,300 years old.
  • It is believed that about 1/3 of the Great Wall of China has disappeared without trace.
  • The Great Wall of China was placed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in the year 1987.
  • More than 1,000, 000 laborers were recruited for the construction of this wall.
  • It is one of the most visited tourist spots in the world and attracts 50 million visitors annually.
  • The Great Wall of China is not a single long wall, it is a collection of many walls and forts built in different historical periods.
  • The original purpose of building the wall was to defend against incursions by some northern nomadic tribes living in today’s Mongolia. Some states also built walls to repel their neighbours.
  • It did not always succeed in keeping out invasions, several strong tribes in the past had managed to cross the barrier.
  • In the past, the immense scale of the Wall had given rise to a rumour that it could be seen from the moon with naked eyes!. But, it is invisible from the space. 
  • In the past,many miles of the Wall were destroyed to make way for infrastructure construction. Many bricks were removed to build civilian houses or farms. Some people even sold the bricks for money. 
  • More than 1,000,000 labourers were involved in the construction of this wall. It was actually a special punishment for convicted criminals during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The work was extremely toilsome and took many lives. It is said that around 400,000 builders died during the construction of the Great Wall of China and some are even said to be buried in the long wall. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as "The Longest Cemetery in Th World".
  • The northwestern sections of the Great Wall are likely to disappear in about 20 years due to desertification of the land and change in human land use. It is threatened with erosion and is deteriorating at a very fast rate.
  • The materials for building the walls included the rammed earth, bricks, stones, powdered dirt and rocks. The mortar used was completely different from the modern mixture of sand and cement, as it included glutinous rice flour which served as a good adhesive.
  • The Great Wall of China is listed as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.
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