Great Wall of China
From Wikitravel
Contents
The Great Wall of China (长城 Chángchéng) stretches from Liaoning Province through Hebei Province, Tianjin Municipality, Beijing Municipality, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, and Ningxia Autonomous Region to Gansu Province within the country of China.
[edit] Understand
The Great Wall of China can be visited at many places along its length of several thousand kilometers. Its condition ranges from excellent to ruined and access from straightforward to quite difficult.
[edit] History
The Great Wall, as we know it, is actually a series of several walls built at different times by different emperors.
Second Great Wall - built by the Han Dynasty 205-127 BC
- Third Great Wall - built by the Jin Dynasty 1200 AD
- Fourth Great Wall - built by the Ming Dynasty 1367-1644
The First Great Wall was ordered built in 214 BC by Qin Shi Huangdi after he had finished consolidating his rule and creating a unified China for the first time. The wall was designed to stop raids by the Xiongnu raiders from the north. 500,000 laborers were used during the 32 year building period to create the First Great Wall.
Although the wall worked at keeping out enemies, it did nothing to stop internal pressures which lead to a regime change in 206 BC and the new leadership of the Han Dynasty. The first Han emperor, Taizong, was quick to see the benefits of the wall against the raiders and ordered more wall to streatch out as far as Zhaoxiang, Gansu Province.
Over 70 years later, the Han Dynasty were still fighting the raiders since the Great Wall had been left to deteriorate and the raiders had breached it in several places. In 130 BC, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty embarked on a program of extending, rebuilding and fortifying the original First Great Wall. After the emperor finished adding more regions under his rule in 127 BC, he ordered a major expansion program that created the Second Great Wall, outposts in Zhangye, Wuwei, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and Yumenguan in Gansu Province and Lopnor and other outposts in Xinjiang Province. The Great Wall was extended down the Hexi Corridor through which the Silk Road traders would travel on the way to and from the West.
When the Han Dynasty fell apart into the three kingdoms of the Wei, Shu and Wu, the northern Wei kingdom decided to continue maintaining the Great Wall so that they could keep out the Rouran and Qidan nomads from the northern plains. Despite constant maintenance, the Wall kept being breached by the Rouran nomads. Additional walls were built inside and outside of the Great Wall by the different kingdoms. Eventually the Wei kingdom merged with the unifying Sui kingdom and was overthrown by the Tang Dynasty in 618 AD.
Nothing more was done to the Great Wall until the reign of the Liao and Song dynasties. The Liao Dynasty controlled the north while the Song Dynasty controlled the south. The Liao were troubled mainly by a tribe in the northeast region of China called the Nuzhen (known as Manchu in Mandarin) so they built defensive walls along the Heilong and Songhua rivers. These failed to stop the raiders from coming south.
In 1115, the Nuzhen established the Jin Dynasty and since they were from the north themselves, understood that the Mongols were right behind them. The Jin emperor ordered the construction of a Third Great Wall to be built in Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The walls built had the charateristics of having ditches running along the walls full length.
Despite the impressive fortifications built, the Mongols overthrew the Jin in 1276 and established the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yuan dynasties rule, the Wall fell into deep disrepair and in 1368, the Chinese Ming Dynasty walked right in and took control.
The Ming Dynasty, after getting rid of the Mongols, determined that they would never be taken again by outsiders. The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu, re-established manning of the Great Wall, fortresses and garrisons were built along the wall, and the fort at Jiayuguan was built in 1372 at the western end of the wall. The second Ming emperor, Yongle, turned his focus outward from the empire and sent out explorers and diplomats into the big, wide world.
It was not until the battle of Tumu against the Mongols that renewed interest in reinforcing the Great Wall occured. Between 1569 and 1583, the most well-known parts of the Great Wall were built, the Fourth Great Wall. The reinforced wall managed to repel Mongols several times.
The Manchu retook China in 1644 and formed the Qing Dynasty. From this point on, the Wall slowly started to fade away while stone and rocks were taken from the Wall for building projects and homes. The Cultural Revolution definitely took its toll out on the wall when local people and local govenrments were encouraged to help dismantle the Great Wall.
It was not until 1984 that President Deng Xiaoping started a restoration and protection project of the Great Wall. In 1987, Badaling, the closest section of the Wall to Beijing, was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
[edit] Landscape
The geography of Northern China ranges from mountainous in northeast Liaoning and Hebei Provinces, through the grasslands of Ningxia, semi-arid desert of China's loess plateau, and borders the sand dunes of the Tengger desert of Inner Mongolia. It is the area around Hebei and Beijing that most people associate with the Great Wall, but most of the Great Wall lies in the desert regions of the country.
[edit] Flora and fauna
Chinese wildlife is diverse, considering all of the different habitats available alongthe length of the Great Wall. From the rare Siberian tiger in the northeast to the protected and rare Giant Panda which lives in southern Gansu, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, you never know what you might see on a given day.
Wild mammals can be found in the north, such as the Manchurian weasel, brown and black bears, northern pika, and mandarin vole. Deer species include Sitka deer, roe deer and the long-sought-after spotted deer, which has many uses in Chinese medicine.
The birds of the region include various pheasents, black grouse, pine grosbeak, various woodpeckers, mandarin duck, and the fairy pitta, a rare migratory bird. Cranes are especially revered in China. Common, demoiselle, white-napes, hooded, and red-crowned cranes all breed in China.
You can find many tonic plants along the Great Wall, such as the rare ginseng (Panax ginseng). Chinese medicine has had many thousands of years to discover and use these tonic plants for the benefit of mankind.
[edit] Climate
Northern China has all four seasons and they arrive with a vengence. Summer and Winter temperatures normally reach extremes of over 40 degrees Celcius and -20 degrees Celcius respectively.
[edit][add listing] See
As the Great Wall of China is rather on the long side, there are a large number of places to visit it. The following list is divided by province/municipality.
[edit] Beijing
The most popular sites can be visited in one day starting from Beijing.
- Badaling and Juyongguan are nearest Beijing, most crowded and touristy and these two sections have been heavily rebuilt to the extent that they had lost their original manner.
- Mutianyu is also close to Beijing but slightly less crowded than Badaling. It has a ski lift to get onto and off the wall and a wheeled toboggan ride down on a metal track. Fun though a bit misplaced. Alternatively, you can hike up a series of steps.
- Huanghuacheng one of the most well built sections of the Great Wall that caused the beheading of Lord Cai, the builder, for mismanagement and waste
- Gubeikou,Jinshanling and Simatai are a bit farther from Beijing than other sections, but the extra time it takes to get there is rewarded with a very significant reduction in crowding and tourist traps. Services are also limited, however; make sure you bring your own supply of water and extra film. The most authentic part of the wall is at Simatai; the wall here is of original construction unlike Badaling. These three locations are 80 miles northeast of Beijing.
[edit] Hebei and Tianjin
- Shanhaiguan, at the Old Dragon's Head, the wall juts out into the sea. To get there from Beijing takes about 3 hours by train.
- Panjiakou Reservoir - sunken part of the Great Wall
- Huangyaguan - worth a visit for its water run-off controls, well-preserved towers, challenging hiking and striking scenery
[edit] Liaoning
- Hushan - can be explored from Dandong
- Xingcheng - a Ming dynasty walled town
- Jiumenkou - located 18 km east of "The First Pass Under Heaven' at Shanhaiguan
[edit] Shanxi
- The Outer Wall of Shanxi - Li'erkou to Deshengbu, Juqiangbu to Laoniuwan, and along the Yellow River
- The Inner Wall of Shanxi - Yanmenguan, Guangwu Old City, Ningwu Pass and Niangziguan
[edit] Shaanxi
[edit] Ningxia
- The Eastern Ningxia Wall - Hongshan Castle and Water Cave Gully (Shui Dong Gou)
- The Northern Ningxia Wall - in the area of Hulanshan
- The Western Ningxia Wall - Zhenbeibu and Sanguankou
[edit] Gansu
- Wuwei - garrison town
- Minqin - oasis town
- Zhangye - garrison headquarters
- Jiayuguan - Fort at Jiayu Pass, nicknamed "Last Fort Under Heaven"
- Lanzhou - former walled town that now is capital of Gansu Province
[edit] Backcountry
If you are coming to the Great Wall as a stand alone hike then feel free to purchase everything you might need in Beijing at one of the Sanfo Beijing stores where you will find everything you might need rather than carry it with you from out of the country as luggage. If hiking the Great Wall is just a stop on a very long itinerary, then feel free to resupply at any of the Sanfo China stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Changchun, Urumqi, Lanzhou and Ningbo. Sanfo is the leading outdoor gear store in China and if they don't have it, you probably don't need it.
[edit] Stay safe
Be aware of bus scams that may ruin your day. You may want to bring a jacket against the wind or cold in the chillier season - in the summer you will need lots of water, there are plenty of vendors at the most visited sections.
Hiking as a recreational sport is not well understood yet in China so the etiquette of crossing state and private land has not yet been established.
Poor mapping is a problem since maps of less than 1:450,000 are not easy to get ahold of due to the military applications of such maps. Guides who know the areas along the Great Wall are few and far between.
Physical safety while hiking the Great Wall is important. Remember that the Wall is mostly mud and poorly supported stones. Outside of the maintained areas, you are on your own. Even if you are not walking on the wall, you will find few trails to follow and some of the area the Wall traverses are vertical, trecherous and very unsafe.
As responsible hikers, you want to leave no trace of your visit and if the wall should be damaged by your actions, the police will probably have a jail cell with your name on it. You know about those unmarked labor camps out in the deserts - they might end up being your new home away from home.
A lot of the area that the Great Wall traverses has no clean drinking water and some areas have no water at all. Other areas will have manmade obstacles, like roads and motorways that have solid fencing. Villages where you could get supplies may be few and far between. Some may take you miles away from the Wall.
The last item to think about regarding hiking the Great Wall is that China has no system of mountain/wilderness rescue personnel. You will be on your own if something should happen to you.
[edit] Get out
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