The Great Wall of China is not a continuous wall but is a collection of short walls that often follow the crest of hills on the southern edge of the Mongolian plain.

The Great Wall stretches over many beautiful green hills and mountains.

One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely steep slopes. It runs 11 kilometers (7 mi) long, ranges from 5 to 8 meters (16­26 ft) in height, and 6 meters (19.7 ft) across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 meters (16.4 ft) across the top. Wangjinglou is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers, 980 meters (3,215 ft)above sea level.

There have been four major walls:
208 BC (the Qin Dynasty)
1st century BC (the Han Dynasty)
1138 - 1198 (the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period)
1368-1620 (from Hongwu Emperor until Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty)

The Great Wall of China - 360-degree Virtual Tour, Simatai

The Great Wall of China - 360-degree Virtual Tour, Simatai

The Great Wall of China

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

During the 7th century BC the Chinese were very familiar with the techniques of wall building. The Chinese built the Great Wall to defend their border from enemies. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall. The Great Wall is actually so huge that it is visible from the moon.

A picture of the Great Wall from the moon.

The Great Wall is a huge tourist attraction. Many people come from all around the world to just see it, hike it, or study it. The Great Wall holds a very fascinating history that many people are very interested in. So instead of just looking it up on the web researchers like to go and get the full affect on it,by traveling to the historical land mark and getting as much knowledge on it as possible.

People also enjoy hiking the the long stretch as far as they are able. Tourist's come from all over the globe to hike the Great Wall. Which can be very difficult with all the steep sections, the very high sections, not to mention that the wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)! That means that the Great Wall stretches almost half way across all of China.