Fruit of Chinese’s Intelligence and Sweat-Great Wall
2 min readThe one who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.The Great Wall is a must when visiting Beijing.
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone，brick，tamped earth，wood，and other materials，generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire against intrusions by variousnomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces.Several walls were built as early as the 7th century BC；these were later joined together and made bigger，stronger，and unified which are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.The most famous is the wall built from 220BC to 206 BC by the first Emperor of China，Qin Shi Huang.Little of that wall remains.The majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls，allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road，regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration.Furthermore，the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers，troop barracks，garrison stations，signaling through the means of smoke or fire and the path of the Great Wall serving as a transportation corridor.
The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Lake in the west，along an arc that roughly delineates the southernedge of Inner Mongolia.A comprehensive archaeological survey usingadvanced technologies has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8，850 km.This is made up of 6，259 km actual wall，359 km trenches and 2，232 km natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.
Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measures out to be 21，196 km.
