Explore the Great Wall: A Must-Visit Cultural Heritage on Your 2025 Travel Bucket List
Chinese name: 长城、万里长城
English name: The Great Wall
Location: Northern China (North China, Northwest China, Central China, etc.)
Characteristics: The Seven Wonders of the Middle World, the longest and largest ancient defense project in history.
The Great Wall is the longest and largest ancient defense project in China and the world. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, it has been continuously constructed for more than 2000 years, distributed over vast lands in northern and central China, with a total length of over 20000 kilometers.
Since Emperor Qin Shi Huang, almost all dynasties that ruled the Central Plains region had to build the Great Wall. More than ten dynasties, including Han, Jin, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, have built the Great Wall on different scales.
Due to its long history, most of the Great Wall from early dynasties were incomplete. The one that was relatively well preserved is the Great Wall built during the Ming Dynasty, so people generally refer to it as the Ming Great Wall.
The Great Wall is not a standalone city wall, but a complete defense engineering system composed of various defensive works such as city walls, enemy towers, gates, fortresses, barracks, guard stations, and town beacon towers.
There are several famous representative sections of the Great Wall, such as:
Shanhaiguan, also known as the “Number One Pass in the World”, is located in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province and is the entrance of the Great Wall into the sea. Due to its location on the main road leading to the capital, it has become a key hub from North China to Northeast China. The ancients called it “the key to the two capitals is unparalleled, the first pass of the Great Wall”.
Zhenbeitai, located in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, is the grandest and most majestic building in the Great Wall, as well as the most magnificent military fortress and observation post on the Great Wall. It is known as the “Number One Tower in the World”.
Jiayuguan, located in Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, is the starting point of the western end of the Ming Great Wall, the first pass in Hexi, and an important station on the Silk Road.
The Great Wall also has a touching legend, which is the story of Meng Jiangnu. Qin Shi Huang repaired the Great Wall, and Meng Jiangnu’s husband Fan Xiliang was captured. It was winter, and Meng Jiangnu searched thousands of miles to find her husband and send him cold clothes, only to find that her husband was dead. She cried bitterly in grief and anger, to the point where even the Great Wall collapsed.
