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Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China is the largest military defense barrier along the previous northern border of China.
The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur, a group of seasonal salt lake sand marshes, in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. In the end, it stops at Jiayuguan.
The Great Wall is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China. The most famous sections were built between 220–200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, but little of them remains. They were much farther north than the current popular sections, which were built by Emperors of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644 AD) during more than 230 years.
The Great Wall was being built, rebuilt and repaired to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu and other northern nomadic invasion since the 5th century BC. 800 years ago, Genghis Khan, the greatest Emperor of northern nomads, had tried to break through the great wall to invade the Huabei plain, but finally withdraw to Inner Mongolia through Juyongguan of Great Wall.
As a dragon hovering in the north of China, the Great Wall were being built, rebuilt, connected, and extended at different times and using different construction. The Great Wall consists of many different walls which were built, rebuilt, connected, and extended at different times and using different construction techniques. In Ming dynasty, the Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.
The Great Wall is not only one of peculiar military defense project in the history of architecture, but also the most important defense program in the Silk Road to protect the communication of trade and culture among nations from inside and outside of the Wall.
At present, the Great Wall has become an icon of China and it represents the greatest achievement of the ancient China.
Walking on Great Wall is -------
1) To enjoy the architecture style in ancient China. Walk on the bricks, step by step, enjoying the chiseled stones on both sides. The width and height of some sections are impressive. The average dimensions are roughly 6 meters (18 feet) wide and 8 meters (25 feet) high. The watchtowers normally add about 4 meters (13 feet) to the height.
2) To know the history of military strategies in China. Climbing up to one watchtower, you will see others easily from it. To sent messages over great distances rapidly and easily, the Great Wall of China watchtowers are fairly close to each other along many stretches of the Great Wall. Some are a stone's throw apart. In ancient China, Fire signals (nighttime) and smoke signals (daytime) were relayed from one watchtower to another. This also helped speed the deployment of soldiers from one area to another along the Great Wall of China.
3) To catch the harmony between nature and human. Along 6700 kilometers or 4000 miles steeps ridges of northern China, it zig-zags up and down different provinces and cities and is punctuated with imposing watchtowers, amazing but not rude.
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