
The well-preserved sections we see today were mainly built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), among which the most popular are around Beijing, including Badaling, Mutianyu, Juyongguan, and Simatai. There are wall remains found in 15 provinces of China. The Great Wall's military use faded away, but now as an unparalleled architectural feat with historical significance, it is certainly the No. In the following 2,000 years, many dynasties continued to consolidate and extend the Great Wall, for not only defense, but also border trade management, imposing tariffs, and immigration control.

Early in the 7th century BC, several ancient states built their own boundary walls, which were later connected by Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210BC), the First Emperor of China, and known as the '10,000-li Long Wall'. Renowned as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987 and one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, the Great Wall of China is not just 'medieval'. This long wall, just like a gigantic dragon, winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 21,196 kilometers from west to east of China.

Although named the 'wall', it is an integrated defense system including not only lofty and solid walls, but also massive signal towers, barriers, barracks, garrison stations, and fortresses along the walls, together forming an insurmountable line, for thousands of years, to protect the territories of ancient Chinese states against the nomadic tribes from the northern steppe. Great Wall FAQs The Great Wall of China, the largest man-made project in the world, is a series of ancient fortifications built in northern China. Chinese Names: 长城cháng chéng / 万里长城wàn lǐ cháng chéng
