The Wall of the Titans – The Great Wall of China
Whenever we think of wonders we wonder what made it a wonder. And when we realize that it is years of toil, hard work, dedication and intelligence that goes to make a wonder in the world then we have to understand that wonders don’t come easy in life and we have to look at these structures in just one expression k- Wonder.
Now isn’t that wonderful? So now that we are on the topic of wonders why don’t we talk about one of the best wonders in the world – The Great Wall of China.
Having a history dating back to 207BC it is said that it was at this time that the last bit of the billion cubic feet of mud was adjusted. This wall has been constructed, reconstructed and rebuilt a million times and was mainly built to safeguard the parts of northern China from periodic attacks by the Xiongnu attacks. But it is the wall that was built in 206BC that is quite famous. It was Qin Shi Huang the first Chinese emperor who built this. The current Great Wall of China was built in the times of the Ming Dynasty.
Extending over 6,400 km this is a wondrous structure extending from Lop Nur in the west to Shanghaiguan which lies to the east. But latest researches also talk about the wall stretching to around 8851 km. There are many millions who have died while building this wall which was quite an ambitious project.
The walls started getting constructed to protect against the swords and spears which were used by the stares of Qi, Zhao and Yan., Qin Shi Huang got the wall built to stop the intruders from coming the north. These were the Xiongnu people. To build the wall lot of materials were needed. They were brought from the mountains and many times rammed earth was the material used for construction. Whatever walls were constructed in the past have got eroded. The Ming Dynasty revived the concept of the wall so that they could keep the nomadic tribes away from their territory. Their construction was much stronger and this time they used bricks and stone and not rammed earth.
Today the Wall is in total disheveled condition in many places and in many places it has broken off . Maybe people could build houses here. It is also said that most of the Gansu province wall would disappear in some time .Today the towers that were a major feature of the wall have ceased to exist. Many portions of the wall are built with mud and not brick and stone so there are chances that the wall could crumble and get eroded very easily.
The watchtowers were there to communicate between units of army about the enemy. Today all these are in a dilapidated condition.
But the Great Wall of China remains a medieval wonder and tourists coming to this part of the world are bound to visit it.
So if you are headed in this part of Asia, go visit the Great Wall of China.