Guest Author - Caroline Baker

The Great Wall of China is one of the Wonders of the World and a proud attestiment to Chinese Civil Engineering. In Chinese, the Great Wall is known as Wan Li Chang Cheng, "the long wall of 10,000 li". This name came about during the initial construction of the wall and the truth length is much longer than this. A km is roughly 2 li. The Wall we refer to today is the last one constructed, and extends roughly 6,000 km, about 4,100 miles, across Northern China.

The Wall took over 2000 years to build. The first parts of the wall began to be constructed during the 7th century BC, by the three states in the North in order to keep the "barbarians" out of their territory. It wasn't until 200 BC and the rise of the first Emperor of the Qin dynasty, Emperor Shih Huangdi, that the walls were officially joined together into a single, longer wall. This formed the first "wan li", or 10,000 li of the wall.

During the next few dynasties, more walls were built, criss-crossing over most of Northern China. The wall extended far into the Gobi desert to the west and well into what is known as Korea today.

The Great Wall that we have come to know was mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, in 1400-1600 AD. This Great Wall, extending around 7,000km at its longest length, was actually further south from the original walls built by the Qin dynasty. This Great Wall, however, was fortified with towers and made wide enough to carry full armies across. Each part of the wall was built with local materials, making the different sections slightly varying in color and composition.

When man first began to venture into space, the Great Wall of China was one of the more prominent man-made objects they could see.

Through time, wear, natural factors, and conflicts, the Wall has decayed. What is left is still an impessive feat of civil engineering. Thousands come yearly to walk just a portion of the wall. Young and old, it is an aspiration of all just to experience a moment on great structure. Lines will build up that rival the crowds at Times Square New York on New Years Eve.

Many groups throughout China are continuing to work to preserve this structure. It took over 2000 years to build and with some attention and care, it may well still exist 2000 years from now.

If you can't make the trip to China to see this great miracle for yourself, check out this website for a panoramic view of different parts of the Great Wall