“There are roads that you don't follow; there are armies that are not attacked; there are fortresses over which one does not fight; there are areas for which they do not fight; there are orders of the sovereign, which are not carried out. " - "Art of War". Sun Tzu
This topic is very popular on the internet. Of course, it looks like a "conspiracy theory", but there are many facts that seem quite logical.
In China, you will be sure to be told about the majestic monument with a length of several thousand kilometers and about the founder of the Qin dynasty, thanks to whose command the Great Wall of China was built more than two thousand years ago.
However, some modern scholars very much doubt whether this symbol of the power of the Chinese empire existed until the middle of the 20th century. So what is shown to tourists? - you say … And tourists are shown what was built by the Chinese communists in the second half of the last century.
According to the official historical version, the Great Wall, intended to protect the country from the raids of nomadic peoples, began to be erected in the III century BC. at the behest of the legendary emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, the first ruler to unite China into one state.
It is believed that the Great Wall, built mainly in the era of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), has survived to this day, and in total there are three historical periods of active construction of the Great Wall: the Qin era in the 3rd century BC, the Han era in III century and the era of Min.
In fact, under the name "Great Wall of China", at least three large projects in different historical epochs unite, which, according to experts, have a total length of at least 13 thousand km of walls.
Promotional video:
With the fall of the Ming and the establishment of the Manchu Qin dynasty (1644-1911) in China, construction work ceased. Thus, the wall, whose construction was completed in the middle of the 17th century, has largely survived.
It is clear that the construction of such a grandiose fortification required the Chinese state to mobilize enormous material and human resources at the limit of possibilities.
Historians claim that at the same time up to a million people were employed in the construction of the Great Wall and the construction was accompanied by monstrous human casualties (according to other sources, three million builders were involved, that is, half of the male population of ancient China).
It is not clear, however, what the ultimate meaning of the Chinese authorities saw in the construction of the Great Wall, since China did not have the necessary military forces, not only to defend, but at least to reliably control the wall along its entire length.
Probably, due to this circumstance, nothing is specifically known about the role of the Great Wall in the defense of China. Nevertheless, the Chinese rulers have persistently erected these walls for two thousand years. Well, we must be simply unable to understand the logic of the ancient Chinese.
But this is not the front door These remnants of the Wall are located in Jiayuguan - an urban district in the Gansu province of China. Photo taken on October 11, 2005. (Photo by Greg Baker | AP)
However, many Sinologists are aware of the weak persuasiveness of the rational motives proposed by the researchers of the subject, which must have prompted the ancient Chinese to create the Great Wall. And to explain the more than strange history of the unique structure, they say philosophical tirades of approximately the following content:
“The wall was supposed to serve as the extreme northern line of the possible expansion of the Chinese themselves; it was supposed to protect the subjects of the“Middle Empire”from the transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle, from merging with the barbarians. The wall was supposed to clearly fix the boundaries of Chinese civilization, contribute to the consolidation of a single empire, just made up of a number of conquered kingdoms."
Scientists were simply struck by the blatant absurdity of this fortification. The Great Wall cannot be called an ineffective defensive facility; from any sane military point of view, it is blatantly absurd. As you can see, the wall runs along the ridges of inaccessible mountains and hills.
Why build a wall in the mountains, where not only the nomads on horseback, but the foot army is unlikely to get there?!.. Or the strategists of the Celestial Empire feared attacks by the tribes of wild climbers? Apparently, the threat of an invasion of hordes of evil climbers really greatly frightened the ancient Chinese authorities, since with the primitive construction technique available to them, the difficulties of erecting a defensive wall in the mountains increased incredibly.
And the crown of fantastic absurdity, if you look closely, you can see that the wall branches out at some points of intersection of mountain ranges, forming mocking senseless loops and ramifications.
It turns out that tourists are usually shown one of the sections of the Great Wall, located 60 km northwest of Beijing. This is the area of Badaling Mountain, the length of the wall is 50 km. The wall is in excellent condition, which is not surprising - its reconstruction on this site was carried out in the 50s of the 20th century. In fact, the wall was rebuilt, although it is claimed to be on old foundations.
The Chinese have nothing more to show, no other credible remnants of the supposedly existing thousands of kilometers of the Great Wall are not available.
Section of the Wall west of Yinchuan Urban District, June 25, 2007. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images)
Let's return to the question, why was the Great Wall led in the mountains. There are reasons here, except for those that may have been recreated and extended, perhaps, the old fortifications of the Pre-Manchu era that were in the gorges and mountain defiles.
The construction of an ancient historical monument in the mountains has its advantages. It is difficult for an observer to ascertain whether the ruins of the Great Wall really stretch back thousands of kilometers along the mountain ranges, as he is told.
In addition, in the mountains it is impossible to establish how old the foundations of the wall are. Over the course of several centuries, stone buildings on ordinary soil, carried by sedimentary rocks, inevitably sink into the ground for several meters, and this is easy to verify.
But on rocky ground, this phenomenon is not observed, and a recent building can easily be passed off as very ancient. And besides, there is no large local population in the mountains, a potential inconvenient witness to the construction of a historical landmark.
It is unlikely that the original fragments of the Great Wall north of Beijing were built on a significant scale, even for China in the early 19th century, this is a difficult task.
Tourist part
It seems that those several tens of kilometers of the Great Wall that are shown to tourists, for the most part, were first erected under the Great Helmsman Mao Zedong. Also a kind of Chinese emperor, but still it cannot be said that he was a very ancient
Here is one of the opinions: you can falsify something that exists in the original, for example, a banknote or a painting. There is an original and you can copy it, which is what artists-forgers and counterfeiters do. If a copy is made well, it can be difficult to identify a fake, to prove that it is not the original. And in the case of the Chinese wall, it cannot be said that this is a fake. Because there was no real wall in ancient times.
Therefore, the original product of the modern creativity of hardworking Chinese builders is nothing to compare with. Rather, it is a kind of quasi-historically grounded grandiose architectural creativity. The product of the famous Chinese desire for order. Today it is a great tourist attraction worthy of the Guinness Book of Records.
Remains of a 14th-century fortress in Jiayuguang, September 15, 2009. (Photo by Sigismund von Dobschutz)
These are the questions asked by Valentin Sapunov
1. From whom, in fact, was the Wall supposed to protect? The official version - from nomads, Huns, vandals - is unconvincing. At the time of the Wall's creation, China was the most powerful state in the region, and possibly the entire world. His army was well armed and trained. This can be judged very concretely - in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang, archaeologists have unearthed a full-scale model of his army. Thousands of terracotta warriors in full gear, with horses, carts, were supposed to accompany the emperor in the afterlife. The northern peoples of that time did not have serious armies, they lived mainly in the Neolithic period. They could not pose a threat to the Chinese army. The suspicion arises that from a military point of view, the Wall was of little use.
2. Why is a significant part of the wall built in the mountains? It runs along ridges, over cliffs and canyons, meanders along inaccessible rocks. This is not how defensive structures are built. In the mountains and without protective walls, the movement of troops is difficult. Even in our time in Afghanistan and Chechnya, modern mechanized troops move not over the ridges of mountains, but only along gorges and passes. Small fortresses dominating the gorges are enough to stop the troops in the mountains. Plains stretch north and south of the Great Wall. It would be more logical and many times cheaper to put a wall there, while the mountains would serve as an additional natural obstacle to the enemy.
3. Why is a wall with a fantastic length of a relatively small height - from 3 to 8 meters, rarely where up to 10? This is much lower than most European castles and Russian kremlin. A strong army equipped with assault techniques (ladders, movable wooden towers) could, choosing a vulnerable spot on a relatively flat terrain, overcome the Wall and invade China. This happened in 1211, when China was easily conquered by the hordes of Genghis Khan.
4. Why is the Great Wall of China oriented on both sides? All fortifications have battlements and curbs on the walls from the side facing the enemy. To the side of their teeth do not set. This is pointless and would make it difficult to service the soldiers on the walls, to bring in ammunition. In many places, battlements and loopholes are oriented inland, and some towers have been shifted to the south. It turns out that the builders of the wall assumed the presence of an enemy from their side. With whom were they going to fight in this case?
Let's start our reasoning with the analysis of the personality of the author of the idea of the Wall - Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 BC).
His personality was extraordinary and in many ways typical of the autocrat. He combined his brilliant organizational talent and state thinking with pathological cruelty, suspicion and petty tyranny. At the very young age of 13, he became the prince of the Qin state. It was here that the technology of ferrous metallurgy was first mastered. It was immediately applied to the needs of the army. With more advanced weapons than their neighbors equipped with bronze swords, the Qin army quickly conquered a significant part of the country. From 221 BC a successful warrior and politician became the head of the united Chinese state - the empire. From that time on, he began to bear the name Qin Shihuang (in another transcription - Shi Huangdi). Like any usurper, he had many enemies. The Emperor surrounded himself with an army of bodyguards. Fearing assassinshe created the first magnetic weapon control in his palace. On the advice of experts, he ordered to put an arch of magnetic iron ore at the entrance. If an incoming person had an iron weapon hidden, magnetic forces tore it out from under his clothes. Immediately the guards kept up and began to find out why the incoming wanted to enter the palace armed. Fearing for power and life, the emperor fell ill with a persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. On the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were seized, tortured and executed. The squares of the cities of China were continuously resounding with the cries of people who were chopped into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, fried in pans. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country.he ordered to put an arch of magnetic iron ore at the entrance. If an incoming person had an iron weapon hidden, magnetic forces tore it out from under his clothes. Immediately the guards kept up and began to find out why the incoming wanted to enter the palace armed. Fearing for power and life, the emperor fell ill with a persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. On the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were seized, tortured and executed. The squares of the cities of China were continuously resounding with the cries of people who were chopped into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, fried in pans. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country.he ordered to put an arch of magnetic iron ore at the entrance. If an incoming person had an iron weapon hidden, magnetic forces tore it out from under his clothes. Immediately the guards kept up and began to find out why the incoming wanted to enter the palace armed. Fearing for power and life, the emperor fell ill with a persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. On the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were seized, tortured and executed. The squares of the cities of China were continuously resounding with the cries of people who were chopped into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, fried in pans. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country.why did the incoming person want to enter the palace armed. Fearing for power and life, the emperor fell ill with a persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. On the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were seized, tortured and executed. The squares of the cities of China were continuously resounding with the cries of people who were chopped into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, fried in pans. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country.why did the incoming person want to enter the palace armed. Fearing for power and life, the emperor fell ill with a persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. On the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were seized, tortured and executed. The squares of the cities of China were continuously resounding with the cries of people who were chopped into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, fried in pans. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country. Tough terror pushed many to flee the country.
Constant stress, wrong way of life shook the health of the emperor. A duodenal ulcer broke out. After 40 years, symptoms of early aging appeared. Some wise men, or rather charlatans, told him a legend about a tree growing over the sea in the east. The fruits of the tree supposedly cure all diseases and prolong youth. The emperor ordered to immediately supply the expedition for fabulous fruits. Several large junks reached the shores of modern Japan, established a settlement there, and decided to stay. They rightly decided that the mythical tree does not exist. If they return empty-handed, the tough emperor will swear a lot, or maybe think of something worse. This settlement later became the beginning of the formation of the Japanese state.
Seeing that science was not able to restore health and youth, he unleashed anger on scientists. The "historical", or rather, hysterical decree of the emperor read - "Burn all books and execute all scientists!" Part of the specialists and works related to military affairs and agriculture, the emperor, under public pressure, nevertheless granted amnesty. However, most of the priceless manuscripts burned down, and 460 scientists, who were then the flower of the intellectual elite, ended their lives in cruel torture.
It was to this emperor, as noted, that the idea of the Great Wall belongs. Construction work did not start from scratch. There were already defensive structures in the north of the country. The idea was to combine them into a single fortification system. What for?
This photo was taken in 1998 in the Yinshan Mountains. A 200 km stretch of the Great Wall of China, built during the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), was discovered by archaeologists in (Photo by Wang Yebiao, Xinhua | AP)
The simplest explanation is the most real
Let's use analogies. The Egyptian pyramids had no practical meaning. They demonstrated the greatness of the pharaohs and their power, the ability to force hundreds of thousands of people to do any, even meaningless action. There are more than enough such structures on Earth with the goal of only exalting power.
Likewise, the Great Wall is a symbol of the power of Shihuang and other Chinese emperors who took up the baton of the grandiose construction project. It should be noted that, unlike many other similar monuments, the Wall is picturesque and beautiful in its own way, harmoniously combined with nature. The work involved talented fortifiers who know a lot about the eastern understanding of beauty.
There was also a second need for the Wall, more mundane. Waves of imperial terror, tyranny of feudal lords and officials forced peasants to flee en masse in search of a better life.
The main route was north to Siberia. It was there that the Chinese men dreamed of finding land and freedom. Interest in Siberia as an analogue of the Promised Land has long agitated ordinary Chinese, and for a long time this people had a tendency to spread all over the world.
Historical analogies suggest themselves. Why did the Russian settlers go to Siberia? For a better share, for land and will. They escaped from the tsarist wrath and tyranny of the lord.
To stop the uncontrolled migration to the north, undermining the unlimited power of the emperor and the nobles, and created the Great Wall. She would not have kept a serious army. However, the Wall could block the way for the peasants walking along the mountain paths burdened with simple belongings, wives and children. And if the peasants were farther away for a breakthrough, led by a kind of Chinese Yermak, they were greeted by a rain of arrows from behind the prongs facing their own people. There are more than enough analogues of such gloomy events in history. Let's remember the Berlin Wall. Officially built against the aggression of the West, it set out to stop the flight of the inhabitants of the GDR to where life was better, or, at least, seemed so. With a similar goal in Stalin's times, they created the most fortified border in the world for tens of thousands of kilometers, nicknamed the "Iron Curtain". Perhaps not by chance, the Great Wall of China has acquired a double meaning in the minds of the peoples of the world. On the one hand, it is a symbol of China. On the other hand, it is a symbol of Chinese isolation from the rest of the world.
This is also a part of the Great Wall of China in the Jiayuguan city district, built during the Ming Dynasty (1372) Photo of 2003. (Photo by Goh Chai Hin | AFP | Getty Images)
There is even an assumption that the "Great Wall" is not the creation of the ancient Chinese, but their northern neighbors
Back in 2006, the president of the Academy of Fundamental Sciences, Andrei Alexandrovich Tyunyaev, in the article "The Great Wall of China was built … not by the Chinese!", Made an assumption about the non-Chinese origin of the Great Wall. In fact, modern China has appropriated the achievement of another civilization. In modern Chinese historiography, the task of the wall has also been changed: initially it defended the North from the South, and not the Chinese South from the "northern barbarians". Researchers say that the loopholes of a significant part of the wall face south, not north. This can be seen in the works of Chinese drawings, a number of photographs, on the most ancient sections of the wall that have not been modernized for the needs of the tourism industry.
According to Tyunyaev, the last sections of the Great Wall were built similarly to Russian and European medieval fortifications, the main task of which is to protect against the effects of guns. The construction of such fortifications did not begin until the 15th century, when cannons became widespread on the battlefields. In addition, the wall marked the border between China and Russia. At that time in history, the border between Russia and China ran along the "Chinese" wall. " On the map of Asia of the 18th century, which was made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam, two geographical formations are marked in this region: Tartarie was located in the north, and China (Chine) in the south, the northern border of which ran approximately along the 40th parallel, that is, exactly along the Great Wall. On this Dutch map, the Great Wall is indicated by a bold line and labeled "Muraille de la Chine". From French this phrase is translated as "Chinese wall", but it can also be translated as "wall from China", or "wall separating from China." In addition, other maps confirm the political significance of the Great Wall: on the 1754 map "Carte de l'Asie", the wall also runs along the border between China and Great Tartary (Tartary). The academic 10-volume World History contains a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th - 18th centuries, which shows in detail the Great Wall, which runs exactly along the border between Russia and China. The political significance of the Great Wall is confirmed by other maps: on the 1754 map "Carte de l'Asie", the wall also runs along the border between China and Great Tartary (Tartary). The academic 10-volume World History contains a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th - 18th centuries, which shows in detail the Great Wall, which runs exactly along the border between Russia and China. The political significance of the Great Wall is confirmed by other maps: on the 1754 map "Carte de l'Asie", the wall also runs along the border between China and Great Tartary (Tartary). The academic 10-volume World History contains a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th - 18th centuries, which shows in detail the Great Wall, which runs exactly along the border between Russia and China.
We are located 180 km north of Beijing. Unlike most other sites around the capital that have been restored for tourism, this section of the Wall, dating back to the Ming Dynasty (circa 1368), has been left intact. May 24, 2006. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images)
The following is the evidence
The ARCHITECTURAL style of the wall, which is now in China, is captured by the peculiarities of the construction of the “handprints” of its creators. Elements of the wall and towers, similar to the fragments of the wall, in the Middle Ages can be found only in the architecture of ancient Russian defensive structures in the central regions of Russia - "northern architecture".
Andrey Tyunyaev suggests comparing two towers - from the Chinese Wall and from the Novgorod Kremlin. The shape of the towers is the same: a rectangle, slightly narrowed upwards. From the wall to the inside of both towers, there is an entrance covered by a round arch made of the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper "working" floors. Round arched windows are made on the ground floor of both towers. The number of windows on the first floor of both towers is 3 on one side and 4 on the other. The height of the windows is about the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
The loopholes are located on the upper (second) floor. They are made in the form of rectangular narrow grooves about 35–45 cm wide. The number of such loopholes in the Chinese tower is 3 deep and 4 wide, and in the Novgorod tower - 4 deep and 5 wide. On the top floor of the "Chinese" tower there are square holes along its very edge. There are the same holes in the Novgorod tower, and the ends of the rafters protrude from them, on which the wooden roof is held.
The situation is the same when comparing the Chinese tower and the tower of the Tula Kremlin. The Chinese and Tula towers have the same number of loopholes in width - there are 4 of them. And the same number of arched openings - 4 each. On the upper floor between the large loopholes there are small loopholes - near the Chinese and Tula towers. The shape of the towers is still the same. In the Tula tower, as in the Chinese one, white stone is used. The vaults are made in the same way: at the Tula - gate, at the "Chinese" - the entrances.
For comparison, you can also use the Russian towers of the Nikolsky Gate (Smolensk) and the northern fortress wall of the Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky, 16th century), as well as the tower in Suzdal (mid-17th century). Conclusion: the design features of the towers of the Chinese Wall reveal almost exact analogies among the towers of the Russian Kremlin.
And what does the comparison of the preserved towers of the Chinese city of Beijing with the medieval towers of Europe say? The fortress walls of the Spanish city of Avila and Beijing are very similar to each other, especially in that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. The Beijing towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out in the same height with the rest of the wall.
Neither the Spanish nor the Peking towers exhibit such a high resemblance to the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as the towers of the Russian Kremlin and fortress walls do. And this is a reason for thought for historians.
Time spares no one and nothing. These hills are actually the remains of the Wall in Yinchuan, China. (Photo by Kim Siefert)
And here is the reasoning of Leksutov Sergey Vladimirovich
The chronicles say that the wall was built for two thousand years. In terms of defense, construction is absolutely meaningless. What is it, while the wall was being built in one place, in other places the nomads walked freely in China for two thousand years? But the chain of fortresses and ramparts can be built and improved over two thousand years. Fortresses are needed to defend garrisons in them from superior enemy forces, as well as to quarter out mobile cavalry detachments, in order to immediately go in pursuit of a detachment of robbers that crossed the border.
I thought for a long time who and why in China built this senseless Cyclopean structure? There is simply no one besides Mao Tse Tung! With his inherent wisdom, he found an excellent way to adapt to work tens of millions of healthy men who had fought for thirty years before, and knew nothing but how to fight. It is inconceivable to imagine what a mess would begin in China if so many soldiers were demobilized at the same time!
And the fact that the Chinese themselves believe that the wall has been standing for two thousand years is explained very simply. A battalion of demobels comes into an open field, the commander explains to them: “Right here, at this very place, the Great Wall of China stood, but the evil barbarians destroyed it, we have to restore it.” And millions of people sincerely believed that they did not build, but only restored the Great Wall of China. Indeed, the wall is made of even, clearly sawn-out blocks. What is it, in Europe they did not know how to saw a stone, but in China they were honored? In addition, they sawed soft stone, and it is better to build fortresses from granite or basalt, or from something no less hard. And granites and basalts learned to saw only in the twentieth century. Along the entire length of four and a half thousand kilometers, the wall is built of uniform blocks of the same size,and after two thousand years the methods of stone processing inevitably had to change. And construction methods have changed over the centuries.
Almost nothing remained of this part of the Great Wall of China in the Jiayuguan urban district, erected in the 16th century, but it was restored in 1987. (Photo by Greg Baker | AP)
Of particular interest is the version of A. Galanin, a famous botanist who made dozens of expeditions, including to China
This researcher believes that the Great Wall of China was built to protect the Ala Shan and Ordos deserts from sandstorms. He drew attention to the fact that on the map compiled at the beginning of the twentieth century by Russian travelers P. Kozlov, one can see how the Wall runs along the border of moving sands, and in some places has significant branches. But it was near the deserts that researchers and archaeologists discovered several parallel walls. Galanin explains this phenomenon very simply: when one wall was covered with sand, another was erected. The researcher does not deny the military purpose of the Wall in its eastern part, but the western part of the Wall fulfilled, in his opinion, the function of protecting agricultural areas from natural disasters.
The western edge of the Great Wall of China near Jiayuguang County, May 30, 2007. (Photo by Michael Goodine)
FIGHTERS OF THE INVISIBLE FRONT
Perhaps the answers lie in the beliefs of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire themselves? It is difficult for us, people of our time, to believe that our ancestors would have erected barriers to repel the aggression of imaginary enemies, for example, ethereal otherworldly entities with unkind thoughts. But the point is that our distant predecessors considered evil spirits to be completely real beings.
The people of China (both today and in the past) are convinced that the world around them is inhabited by thousands of demonic creatures that are dangerous to humans. One of the names of the wall sounds like "a place where 10 thousand spirits dwell."
Another curious fact: the Great Wall of China does not stretch in a straight line, but along a winding one. And the features of the relief have nothing to do with it. If you look closely, you can find that even in flat areas it "winds". What was the logic of the ancient builders?
The ancients believed that all these creatures can move exclusively in a straight line and are unable to bypass obstacles on the way. Perhaps the Great Wall of China was erected to block their path?
Meanwhile, it is known that the emperor Qin Shihuang-di during the construction constantly consulted with astrologers and consulted with fortune-tellers. According to legend, the soothsayers told him that a terrible sacrifice could bring glory to the sovereign and provide reliable defense to the state - the bodies of the unfortunates buried in the wall, who died during the construction of the structure. Who knows, perhaps, these nameless builders today stand on the eternal guard of the borders of the Celestial Empire …
Of course, these are not all versions, but which one do you adhere to?
Let's look at the photo of the wall:
The old part of the Wall in Longkou City County (Shandong Province). (Photo by Kim Siefert)
Wall to the northeast of Beijing, December 29, 1999. This part was also not spared time. (Photo by Greg Baker | AP)
And this is already the "tourist" part of the Great Wall of China near Beijing. (Photo by Saad Akhtar)
A section of the Wall on the outskirts of Beijing called Badaling, June 1, 2010. (Photo by Liu Jin | AFP | Getty Images)
The Chinese Department of Culture periodically measures the Great Wall of China, March 14, 2006. (Photo by China Photos | Getty Images)
A well-preserved part of the Wall near the Dongjiakou village. (Photo by Kim Siefert)
Some parts of the Great Wall of China were swallowed up by nature … (Photo by Kim Siefert)
A relatively new photo of The Wall from Hebei Province, July 17, 2012. (Photo by Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images)
Some tourists set up their tents right on the Wall. Badalin site, September 24, 2010. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images)
Another section of the Wall, merged with nature. 80 km from Beijing, September 30, 2012. (Photo by David Gray | Reuters)
Former watchtower arch, September 30, 2012 (Photo by David Gray | Reuters)
Since the Wall runs through mountains, deserts and rivers, there are sections where it rises almost vertically upward. Hebei Province, July 17, 2012. (Photo by Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images)
The "tourist" part of the Great Wall of China, 80 km from the center of Beijing, May 7, 2011. (Photo by Jason Lee | Reuters)
Autumn landscapes at the Great Wall of China. (Photo by Kim Siefert)
Old photo. This is US President Richard Nixon standing on the Great Wall of China near Beijing on February 24, 1972. (AP Photo)
Wedding photo session, October 18, 2009. (Photo by David Gray | Reuters)
Site of the Wall next to Beijing. (Photo by Kim Siefert)
Section of the Badalin Wall and Mountains, September 24, 2010. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images)
Merging with nature, Qinhuangdao metropolitan area. (Photo by Kim Siefert)
Near Beijing, July 8, 2007. (Photo by Ng Han Guan | AP)
A rally at a watchtower to mark International Anti-Narcotics Day in Beijing, June 26, 2006. (Photo by China Photos | Getty Images)
Site of the Great Wall of China Simatai. In 1987 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. (Photo by Bobby Yip | Reuters)
Hebei Province, China, September 18, 2011. (Photo by Alexander F. Yuan | AP)
We will end today's review with an interesting section of the Great Wall of China called the "Head of the Old Dragon" from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). This is where the Wall meets the sea. Located in Hebei Province, July 9, 2009. (Photo by Andrew Wong | Getty Images)