A Visit to the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China, another one of those things I never thought I would visit in person.  In case you are not familiar with the wall, here is a little history...I'm afraid you will have to continue on to the bottom of this page and to the next page for the pictures. :)

 The Great Wall of China  was built from the 3rd century BC to the beginning of the 17th century, to protect the various dynasties from raids by nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria.

After subjugating and uniting China from seven Warring States, the emperor connected and extended four old fortification walls along the north of China that originated over 2500 years ago.

Armies were stationed along the wall as a defense against the invading nomadic the Huns north of China. Signal fires from the Wall provided early warning of an attack.

Several walls were built since the 3rd century BC, the most famous being the Great Wall of China built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang and was located much further north than the current Great Wall of China built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall was enlarged to 4,000 miles and renovated over a 200 year period, with watch-towers and cannons.

The Great Wall is the world's longest man-made structure, stretching over 3,948 miles, from Shanhai Pass on the Bohai Sea in the east, at the limit between "China proper" and Manchuria , to Lop Nur in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Along most of its arc, it roughly delineates the border between North China and Inner Mongolia.