The Great Wall, a wonder in the architectural history in the world, is a military project of ancient China. Lying across the northern borders of ancient China like a great dragon, it stretches east from the Shanhaiguan Pass west to the Jiayuguan Pass for 6,700 kilometers, hence is well known as 10,000-Li Great Wall(one li is 500 meters). It was first built in the Warring States Period by three states, Yan, Zhao and Qin, as a defence of each other and against the nomadic tribes further north. After Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China in 221 B.C., the separate sections o the Great Wall were linked together and extended. Later, the wall was reinforced in the Ming Dynasty. It was from then on that the great 10,000-Li Great Wall began to stand lofty and rock-firm in the north of China and experienced thousands of years’ wind and frost. It has become a pride of Chinese people and a symbol of long history of the Chinese nationality.
Today, the most famous section of the Great Wall restored for tourists are Badaling, Juyongguan in Beijing and Huangyaguan in Tianjin. Each of them has its own merits for visitors. Located in Yanqing County, over 70 kilometers northwest from the center of Beijing, Badaling Great Wall holds the highest position of the Great Wall in Beijing, with a highest altitude of 1,015 meters. The Chinese word ‘Bada’ means ‘giving access to every direction’, the name Badaling itself suggests its strategic importance. This magnificent wall is 7.8 meters high on average and its top 5.8 meter wide, capacious enough for 5 hourses or 10 people to walk along abreast. The wall was built with granite and specially made bricks, lofty and firm. . In addition, the wall is outfitted with peepholes and apertures for archers, and watchtowers were built at an interval of 500 meters or accommodation, storing weapons and observing enemy movements. Today there are the Great Wall Museum and Circular Screen Cinema.
Lying in a steep position with fortresses one after another, as a military defence the Badaling Great Wall should have been impregnable, but unfortunately at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was right from here that the peasant rebellions led by Li Zicheng broke through the Great Wall, captured Beijing and swept out the Ming Dynasty.
In 1961, the Badaling Great Wall was listed in major historical and cultural sites under state protection, and in 1987, it was again enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO.
