11 (not so) dumb questions about The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is to me one of those esoteric mysterious history subjects that are in the back of your mind for a long time, but that many times you don’t really grasp.

Like something taken out of some legendary children’s story about the magical wall that protected an entire realm and its king.

You’ve heard about this huge construction, the only one that can be seen from space and if it wasn’t one of the Seven Wonders of Ancient the World, it is one of today’s.

So with the intention of having some practical facts about The Great Wall of China that will help us bring it to cultural travel reality, let’s tackle eleven of the most basic questions any first time traveler would have.

1. What is The Great Wall of China?

The Great Wall of China is a number of walls initially built separately but later joined in sections, located in what today is the country of China.

It runs roughly from east to west, separating the fertile cultivated lands of northern China, from the Mongolian steppes.

It is not, as many others are, one single strip of wall, and it doesn’t encircle the country. It is many sections of different walls of different lengths and widths across China.

2. What is The Great Wall of China for?

As any wall, it had defensive purposes to protect the Chinese Empire from different tribes from the north like the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes.

It goes through mountainous terrain, taking advantage of its precipices and cliffs.

It was also used to control borders and impose taxes for the transportation of goods through the Silk Road and many other routes.

The walls also provided means for communication through smoke signals as wells as watch towers, barracks and garrisons.

3. What is The Great Wall of China made of?

Basic materials like brick, stone and sometimes wood.

4. When was The Great Wall of China built?

It is believed that the first construction campaigns started as early as the 7^th century BC.

But some of the most notable sections are those built during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the guy who united the tribes, the one that was buried with the Terracotta Army.

He is quite famous and if you see the map below, you can get an idea of just how magnificent he tried to build his empire, from 221 to 206 BC (At the time of the Roman Republic).

The other important period of building is during the Ming Dynasty from the 14^th to the 17^th century AD, while Europe was going from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and after.

Most of what we can see today comes from this period.

So how long ago was The Great Wall of China built? It staerted at least 2200 years ago and ended around 400 years ago.

5. Where is The Great Wall of China located?

Its different sections are scattered over the northern part of China and Mongolia.

Today there are tourist centers near some key spots along the wall, so that people can visit them easily (More on that later on).

6. Who built The Great Wall of China?

The wall was built by many emperors of dynasties like Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty and Ming Dynasty.

Most notably, Qin Shi Huang himself.

All of them built new sections, joined together, reinforced, enlarged and restored older portions of the wall.

7. How wide is The Great Wall of China?

Depending on the area you’re visiting, the wall can go from 5 to 6 meters (16–19 ft) wide.

8. How tall is The Great Wall of China?

Again, depending on the section you’re on, the wall is 5 to 8 meters (16–26 ft) high.

9. How long is The Great Wall of China?

Since what we call The Great Wall of China is actually a collection of walls, the length of the wall is not linear at all.

What we can do is sum up all the portions which amount to 21,196 km (13,171 mi).

I guess in theory, you could, if you wanted to, walk alongside it… but it’s going to be a long and sometimes steep and dangerous walk.

Also, beware that outside of the tourist areas, you do need to speak Chinese.

10. How to get to The Great Wall of China?

From Beijing you can hop on a bus or a taxi from Tiananmen Square for one hour until Badaling, one of the tourist centers and the most popular one, 70 km (44 mi) from the city.

Another popular spot is Mutianyu, 90 km (60 mi) north of Beijing.

However, if you’d like to see the wall without that many tourists, slopping on top of gorgeous mountains, Simatai is the spot for you, 110 km (68 mi) to the northeast of Beijing.

Simatai offers a 19 km (12 mi) section of the wall with 135 watch towers on sinuating mountains.

11. Can The Great Wall of China be seen from space?

I just found out this is a myth! It turns out the first source making such a claim (seen from the Moon, to be more precise) was Ripley’s Believe It or Not! In the 1930s when there was no space travel yet.

In 1969 with the 1969 moon landing it was still nearly impossible to see.

I read that in the 1990s you’d still need very special equipment and ideal atmospheric conditions to claim that maybe it could be seen from space.

It’s not really true; it can’t be seen with the naked eye.

I hope I’ve been able to make The Great Wall a bit more real and more accessible, I certainly feel like getting there right now!

Have you been to the wall before? What was your experience?
Which section did you visit?
Share your comments in the field below or join the conversation in Facebook!

Practicalities

• For some unbelievable pictures of The Great Wall, visit www.theatlantic.com
  
• Best time to visit: Spring and summer. Winter is terribly cold.
• Health issues: Avoid tap water or that is not properly bottled, salads and vegetables that are not cooked and fruit without skin. Many street dogs have rabies, so stay clear of animals.
• Currency: Dollars are accepted at all tourist areas.
• Language: English is spoken in tourist areas, otherwise, you must speak Chinese.
• Heritage: The Great Wall is one of the Unesco World Heritage Sites.

Tags: architecture, China, history