Great Wall of China - History, Story and Facts

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 or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.

Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China,Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; 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 and emigration.

Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.

History & Story about Great Wall of China

• The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. 
• A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. 
• Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi).It is a series of stone and earthen fortifications that has been, built, rebuilt, and maintained from the 6th century BC and the 16th century.
• Its purpose is/was to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire.
• Several walls were built since the 5th century BC.
• The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world. Naturally, thousands of laborers were put to work during its construction, many of whom lost their lives. 
• Due to this, some writers have remarked that the Great Wall is the longest graveyard in the world. The construction is supposed to have taken more than a million lives!
• The Great Wall is called the Wan Li Changcheng, which translates as 'a wall many li long'. 'Li' is a Chinese unit of measurement, equating to approximately a third of a mile (half a kilometer).
• The most famous wall was built between 220–200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.
•  It starts from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west.
•  It runs along the southern edge of Inner Mongolia and stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total.
•  Some say that 2 to 3 million Chinese died building the wall.
•  Except where the Great Wall is a tourist trap, attraction, in most locations the Great Wall is in disrepair.
• The Great Wall of China was listed in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the greatest wonders of the world.
•  To see the Great Wall in its most natural state visit Simatai, 110km (70miles) north-east of Beijing. This part is still in its original state without being developed into a popular tourist attraction.
• In 2001, Neil Armstrong stated about the view from Apollo 11: "I do not believe that, at least with my eyes, there would be any man-made object that I could see. 
• I have not yet found somebody who has told me they've seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit. 
• I've asked various people, particularly Shuttle guys, that have been many orbits around China in the daytime, and the ones I've talked to didn't see it."
• Leroy Chiao, a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that the photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Based on the photograph, the China Daily later reported that the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye, under favorable viewing conditions.
• If one knows exactly where to look. However, the resolution of a camera can be much higher than the human visual system, and the optics much better, rendering photographic evidence irrelevant to the issue of whether it is visible to the naked eye.