Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a unique archaeological site stretches from the Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. It’s one of the most notable landmark in China and also one of the most recognizable tourist attractions in the world.

The wall is an earthen fortification which was built of a great number of stones to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the reign of the Qin Dynasty.

There is no precise information about exactly how long and in what direction were the Qin Dynasty walls although the one, built between 220-206 BC was the most famous among them.

The Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties made numbers of reconstructions and extensions of certain parts of the Great Wall thereby to provide protection from the northern invasions.
During the Ming Dynasty, the fortifications were rebuilt by bricks and stones instead of rammed earth, as was the time of the Qin Dynasty.

In order to defend himself from constant Mongol invades, the Ming gave а lot of money to repair the walls and make them stronger. He also established a new construction called “Liaodong Wall” which embraced the agricultural heartland of the Liaodong region and like the Great Wall, it also served as a protective device against possible invades by Jurched-Mongol Orivanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north.

In 2009, additional parts of the Great Wall were excavated under the sands. Built during the Ming Dynasty, they extend to 290 kilometres from the Hushan mountains in the northern Liaoning province to Jiayuguan in western Gansu province.

The actual length of the wall is 8,851.8 km by 359.7 km of it are trenches and another 2,232.5 km are hills and rivers.

Today, some of the wall sections are fully recovered and are of great interest to tourist from around the world. Most of the notable areas are located in Beijing municipality such as “North Pass” of Juyongguan, “West Pass” of Jiayuguan, “Pass” of Shanhaiguan, the Mutianyu Great Wall, as well as the “Number One Pass Under Heavan”, the Jia Shan and the Jiumenkou.