Мeet the Great Wall

Who hasn’t heard of the immense wall that has still stood for 2000 years in China? This incredible monument is called Changcheng in Romanized Chinese, which literally means “the long wall” and the truth is that it is extremely long.

The Great Wall of China is probably the largest and most famous monument built by the Chinese people. In fact, it is the largest monument in the history of mankind, whether by length, surface or mass. Whether you look at it or see it in a picture, the Great Wall ends up astounding everyone. This gigantic group of fortifications runs for thousands of kilometers and shows that the Chinese are organized, tenacious and very hardworking.

Chinese Wall is a witness of past times that is inscribed in Chinese culture and, for 30 years, it has also been on the world heritage list. It is also one of the most visited monuments in the world and explains in part the success of tourism in China.

Thanks to Meet-Greatwall.org, you will know all the details of this wonder of the world. If you plan to travel to China for tourism, you can’t miss this colossal monument.

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History of the Great Wall of China

Construction of the wall

An important part of China’s history is linked to the Great Wall. Its construction extends over 2 millennia and therefore one has to go back a long way to the beginning. Our story begins in monarchical China under the reign of the Zhou dynasty, whose rulers reigned from 771 to 256 BC. However, the dynasty suffered a decline and this benefited several princes, who eventually took over the central power.

Thus begins the 5th century BC, a period in which several reigns succeed each other and all seek to control China: this is the period of the Fighting Kingdoms, which will last until 221 BC. At this time, each king built pieces of wall to protect the kingdom from barbarian invasions. The different emerging kingdoms corresponded, in turn, with dynasties such as:

  • Chu
  • Han
  • Qin
  • Qi
  • Zhao
  • Yan
  • Wei

The walls raised by these dynasties are rather rudimentary: they are made of rammed earth, which takes advantage of the characteristics of Chinese soil (rammed earth becomes as solid as stone). This method makes it possible to easily and quickly erect a series of walls that can last for centuries or even millennia.

In 221 BC, one of the states managed to unify all the kingdoms of China and founded an empire. The first Chinese imperial dynasty is that of Qin, with the Emperor Qin Shi Huang at its head. He will be the one who will start the first reforms of the construction of the wall, starting from the north and helping himself from the pre-constructed walls in the west.

One of the few sources we have from that period is the Shiji (Historical Memories) of Sima Qian, but the little that the author comments on is not enough to determine a precise start date for construction. However, we do know that about 180 million cubic metres of earth were needed. According to a popular legend, the bodies of the workers who died from fatigue during the construction of the wall were also used as material for the wall. In reality, it is very likely that the dead workers are resting near the wall, but not inside it. Although, we will never know for sure! It is legends like this that encourage tourists to see the Great Wall when they pass through Asia.

Do you want to know which are the most famous monuments in China apart from the Great Wall?

We encourage you to learn in a good Chinese course!

The Great Wall of China as a trade route

The dynasty that continued after the Qin was the Han dynasty, whose emperor, Gaozu, rose to power in China in 202 BC. The strategy adopted by the Han was simple: abandon the project of the wall and negotiate with the invaders from the north by means of “diplomatic gifts”, such as women, food, etc. However, under the reign of Emperor Wudi, construction of the wall was resumed for two reasons:

  • To defend themselves against the nomadic Chinese people of the north, the Xiongnu, whose offensives began in 129 BC and ended with the victory of the Han in 119 BC.
  • To establish a trade route that would progressively become the Silk Road.

If we were to sum up the overall usefulness of the Great Wall of China during its history, we could say that it is more of an advantage for the transport route of people and goods than a defensive fortification, although it is not negligible as such.

The end of the Han dynasty, during the 3rd century A.D., marks the outbreak of 3 different kingdoms in China:

  • The kingdom of Wei, to the north
  • The kingdom of Wu, to the southeast
  • The kingdom of Shu, to the west, in the Sichuan basin.


Thus, building the wall becomes more and more difficult and its usefulness more and more doubtful. However, at the end of the 6th century A.D., with the end of the Wei dynasty in the north, the project of building a real wall comes back to the minds of the powerful, but they will not carry it out.

Birth of the “Great Wall”

We’ll have to wait until the Ming dynasty for the project to come back to life. In other words, we have to wait until the 14th century. Then, the empire faces invasions from various peoples, such as the Mongols and the Manchus. In order to protect itself, the Chinese government resumes the construction of the wall at the end of the 16th century, with the idea of covering the walls with bricks and stones.

Well, at this time the role of the wall is mainly defensive. The offensive power of the adversaries is such that the Chinese have no choice but to defend themselves with the largest possible wall. As Sun Tzu says in The Art of War:

In war, numbers provide no advantage. Do not advance with military power as your only asset.

We will have to wait a whole century to build such a building. Imagine that, during its construction, 10 million Chinese died. So the Great Wall of China saw the light of day and was completed as we know it today. Later, it was abandoned, as it had neither military nor commercial use, but it will return to the scene with world tourism.

The Great Wall of China in geographical terms

An immense size

The Great Wall of China is in the north of the country and runs from the Chinese agglomeration of Beijing to the Gobi desert. This fortified wall is between 5 and 7 meters long with a height that varies between 5 and 17 meters, depending on each portion of the wall. It runs for about 6,700 kilometers. However, satellite studies have revealed that there are several segments (about 1 000 km more) that have unfortunately been left underground. In other words, the Great Wall of China was even bigger than it is now.

In addition, a 2008 study re-evaluated the length of the Great Wall of China and gave the figure of 8 850 km. This estimate included the walls, the trenches and the natural barriers (mountains or rivers). In 2012, in fact, another study showed that the wall had to be much larger than what we see today, which corresponds to only 8% of the total wall built by the Ming dynasty. In short, that the Great Wall of China had an original length of about 21,200 km.

The Great Wall of China: a monument seen from space?

You may have heard the rumor that the Great Wall of China can be seen from the moon, which shows how imposing it is. Well, just so you know, it’s a fake. Think of the wall as not much longer than a highway. If you could see it, it would actually look like a needle in a haystack. You can’t even see it from the International Space Station.

However, the debate continued when the American astronaut Eugene Cernan developed a photo taken between about 160 and 320 km in altitude (i.e. from space) in which the wall could be seen. In reality, it is only visible if certain conditions are met: clear weather and a sun low enough to see the shadow on the earth. In any case, you can take pictures of the Great Wall of China from space, but only because the camera has a higher resolution than the human eye.

The tourist attraction of the Chinese monument

The Great Wall of China is, without a doubt, one of the main tourist attractions of this country and even of all Asia. Every year, some 15 or 16 million people come to visit it. Here is a short list of the most frequent places to visit:

  • Badaling
  • Mutianyu
  • Xifengkou
  • Simatai
  • Jiayuguan

Seeing the success of the monument, the government of the People’s Republic of China has carried out several restoration projects of certain segments of the Wall. However, the truth is that so many tourists are beginning to threaten the very structure of the Wall. Whether because of its history, its titanic proportions, its folklore (the numerous legends that make it up) or the attraction itself, the Great Wall of China is one of the greatest monuments in the history of mankind and this makes many Spaniards ask for a visa to go to China to see it.

If you travel to China, do not miss it. Superprof can help you prepare a good trip to the celestial empire. You only have to consult our articles about China and take some Chinese lessons with a private teacher. Climb to the top of the Great Wall of China!

The architecture of the Great Wall of China

Over 6000 km long, the Great Wall of China has a width that varies between 5 and 7 meters on average and a height that varies between 5 and 17 meters. Built of stone, cement, earth and clay bricks, it seems that segments of more than 1000 km are buried underground and are therefore invisible to the naked eye.

The longest human construction in the world has square watchtowers and bastions along its entire length. The towers are at least 15 meters high, each about 75 meters apart.

In Superprof, we are also interested in anecdotes to better understand a culture, an identity, a language. And the best known anecdote of the Great Wall is that, apparently, in the mortar that served to consolidate the Great Wall of China, 3% of the components were actually sticky or glutinous rice. This is the secret of the resistance of this monument known throughout the world!

Going to China takes a new turn, thanks to this architectural facet that the Great Wall represents. Between trips, learning more about the visits you want to make is always a good idea, as well as taking a tour of Yunnan, Beijing or Shanghai.

Representations of the Great Wall of China

Between the rice fields and the personalized trips, a complete part of the Chinese culture opens up to us, showing a vision of a rich country and the expansion of tourism. Because whether you are Spanish, French or Mexican, you have surely seen the Great Wall of China represented in any cultural work.

By “cultural work”, we mean a film, a book, a famous photograph, in short, a broad meaning that reminds us that it is one of the most important and visited monuments in the world, and of our time! Beyond the tourist sites of a China full of skyscrapers and billboards, this monument is like a small parenthesis in the open air, magnified by the creators and artists.

Examples of works in which the Great Wall of China is represented in their content include video games, films or television series.

In video games, we find it represented in:

  • Tomb Raider 2
  • Crash Bandicoot 3
  • Age of Empires II
  • World Of Warcraft
  • The Sims 3
  • Titan Quest
  • The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World
  • And many more!

Some anecdotes about the Great Wall of Chins

Facts about the wall

The fact that China has a very large, world-famous monument does not exclude it from some anecdotes, quite the contrary! In fact, even if you think you know it perfectly, like the palm of your hand, it has, like all historical constructions, some small stories, sometimes unknown to the general public.

For example, did you know that, for the construction of this gigantic building, more than 10 million workers died during its construction? A huge world cemetery, whose bodies were buried even around the great wall.

A second anecdote is that, during the Cultural Revolution, bricks were removed from the Great Wall of China to participate in the construction of the pigsties. All this was due to the rebels and the Red Guards, who would have taken this initiative.

More recently, in 2007, on July 7th exactly, the Great Wall of China was designated as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. This distinction was awarded by the New Open World Foundation, an unofficial commercial organization that decided to give it this prestige.

It is also often said that the mortar we spoke of earlier, intended to seal the stones, was not made of glutinous rice, but of human bones. These same bones would give the building its white character, the color of which would not fade. With the same logic, it is also said that they buried men inside the wall, to strengthen the construction.

Legends about the wall

A legend also tells of the fact that a gentle dragon would have traced the route of the Great Wall of China to guide the workers. The builders of the monument would have followed in the dragon’s footsteps to participate in the raising of the wall. It’s obviously a legend!

Another legend is that the wife of a farmer, named Meng Jiang Nu, was forced to work on the wall during the Qin Dynasty, mentioned above. When her husband died, the woman cried until the wall was torn down and his bones appeared, so that they could be buried.

During the construction of the Great Wall, it is said that there was a white cock locked in a cage. Its song was supposed to awaken the souls of the dead builders, whose bodies were to be carried to the top of the wall by the family. The crowing was meant not to make the spirit wander all its life around the wall.

If we carefully observe some architectural aspects of the wall, we see that some strategic places and passages have reliefs. These same reliefs would be the personification of Paradise, represented specifically by Tian Wang and also by Uranus.

Thus, it is not surprising that we find many anecdotes for a building and a monument that receives so many tourists a day, that the figure is incalculable! Its history is full of little stories, which we can all enjoy – it’s all part of Chinese culture!