The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is often considered to be one of the wonders of the world. It was built over 2000 years ago and is one of the biggest building projects ever completed. The Chinese name for this wall is “Wan-Li Qang-Qeng,” which means the wall is about 10,000
Li (an ancient Chinese measurement). According to geographers, the wall is approximately 5000 kilometres in length – longer than any other wall we know of on earth. Why was this wall built? It’s hard to be absolutely sure about the reasons because the wall was built so long ago. However, there are some historical records to tell us that the main reason was to keep invaders out of China. Historians believe that the wall was actually built from existing forts and walls that were already built in the north of China, but not connected together.

The Great Wall was formed by connecting these existing forts and walls, and extending them even further over many, many years. Fires were built at various points along the Great Wall to warn people that invaders were coming. This gave people enough time to prepare the defence of their homes and villages, and get ready to fight the invaders.

This wall is built of rocks, bricks, sand, and tightly-packed earth. We do not know how long it took to build, but it is reasonable to estimate that it took a very long time and thousands of workers to complete the wall. There are some concerns that the Great Wall is breaking apart because of the numbers of tourists and visitors that walk across it at certain points. If you are lucky enough to go to China and see the Great Wall, please be careful to treat it with care. Remember – it is over 2000 years old!

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