Running along the longest wonder of the Medieval World
Lady Meng Jiang’s husband had been captured by officials 3 days after their marriage and sent to build the wall in the north of China. He had plagued her nightmares ever since, shivering in the cold on the Great Wall. Unable to wait for his arrival, she had walked for days till she had got to the foot of the Great Wall at the present Shanhaiguan Pass, so that she could give him some warm clothes. Upon her arrival she had been told that her husband in fact died of exhaustion, and had been buried into the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu fell to her knees, unable to bear the horrific news. She was so grief- stricken and her weeping was so bitter that a 400 km long section of the wall collapsed to reveal the bones of her dead husband.
This is a tragic tale of two lovers from the Qin Dynasty, whose love was extinguished by the wall, but whose love was also able to bring down the mighty fortification. It has been passed on from generation to generation, and it is often called the story of the Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall, “The Long Wall” and “The 10,000 Mile Long Wall” are all names used to refer to the winding edifice that stretches for 21,196.18 km, spanning the northern border of Ancient and Imperial Chinese territories. Recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history, it was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. It was built by 3 warring kingdoms, then extended and rebuilt by at least 6 dynasties. The unification of the walls was ordered by Emperor Qin Shi Huang around 221 BC, making the Great Wall more than 2,300 years old. Some segments of the wall are scattered while others run parallel, and in some places the wall doubles or even triples itself.
A Qi State Duke first built walls to prevent invasions from other states, in the Warring States Period (476 – 221 BC). Then, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, ordered that earlier fortifications between states be removed and a number of existing walls along the northern border be connected into a single system to defend China against attacks from the north, during the Qin Dynasty (221 – 207 BC). This linking of the separate sections was actually brought on because of a rumour. The Emperor was frightened that he would be overturned by the northern nomads, so he immediately issued an order to connect the walls and extend new ramparts to guard the northern border. The wall was extended and rebuilt during The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC – 220 AD) and The Ming Dynasty ( 1368– 1644). The last construction is said to be in the late Qing Dynasty, in 1878.
Wall construction was a popular method of punishment, and more than 1,000,000 soldiers and convicts were recruited, of whom about 400,000 died during construction and were buried into the wall itself. Although no actual evidence of corpses are said to have been found from within the wall, the construction has been referred to as the longest cemetery in the world. Grieving family members of the dead workers used to cross the Great Wall with a rooster in tow, since it is a tradition and family members did so in an effort to help guide the souls away from the entrapment.
The Great Wall was an integrated military defensive system with watchtowers for surveillance, fortresses for command posts and beacon towers for communications, all built in different historical periods. The approach of an invading enemy was warned by burning a mixture of Chinese tamarisk, reeds, poplar and other types of vegetation from the beacon towers, creating a very dense pillar of smoke that could be seen for miles. Aside from keeping out raiding parties and being a transportation corridor, it was also used to regulate trade and restrict both immigration and emigration.
Along this super long wall, Beijing now ranks as the top destination for the thousands of national and foreign tourists that visit every day. Badaling, located 43 miles (70 km) northwest of Beijing – is one of the best sections to see neat and complete walls and beacon towers; while Jinshanling and Simatai offer challenging Great Wall hiking routes with open and wild scenery. If you love hiking, fall is the season for you since the clear weather provides the ultimate hiking environment. Summer in China is hot with bright sunshine and some downpours, and it is peak season for tourists so popular sections of the wall tend to get very crowded. In that sense, for someone who wants to have the ultimate Great Wall experience, spring and fall seasons would be the most ideal to pack your bags and book a flight to China.