Facts About the Great Wall of China

by Brandon Cornett, publisher of 21Facts.com

Why do we find the Great Wall of China so fascinating? Well, because it’s great. It’s the largest man-made structure on the planet, and it’s steeped in history. In fact, the more facts you learn about the Great Wall, the more interesting it becomes.

21 Interesting Facts About the Wall

1. The Great Wall is actually a series of walls, as opposed to one long structure. Collectively, these structures are referred to as the Great Wall of China.
2. The Great Wall, with all of its various parts, stretches for approximately 5,000 miles from one end to another. In addition to the man-made portions, this overall length includes various rivers and cliffs that form a natural barrier.
3. In 2007, an expedition was launched to discover the true length of the wall (current estimates vary). This will be the first detailed survey of the structure, from start to finish. The survey will take several years, so it was not yet complete at the time we published this article. We will update this fact sheet when the expedition report is released.
4. The Great Wall is by far the largest man-made structure on the planet. In terms of the distance covered and materials used, no other structure comes close to it.
5. The first phase of construction took place in 5th Century B.C. It continued in various stages up until the 16th Century A.D. That’s a span of roughly 2,000 years.
6. Most of the remaining structures that we see today were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 A.D.).
7. The wall was built for military purposes, to defend the northern border of China from invasion by Mongolian and Manchurian tribes.
8. There are many towers positioned along the length of the Great Wall. Historically, these towers served two military purposes. They were observation posts for sentries, and they also allowed for signals to be sent along the wall.
9. The wall runs mainly east to west, since it was designed to protect China from threats to the north. The easternmost part of the wall is located on the China-Korea border.
10. The Great Wall was instrumental in helping the Chinese ward off invasions throughout history. In the early 1600s, it helped China protect itself from the Manchurian tribes. Eventually, in 1644, the Manchurians penetrated the wall and essentially conquered China. This ushered in the Qing Dynasty (a.k.a. Manchu Dynasty).
11. Millions of laborers were involved in the construction of the wall. Many of them were forced into labor.
12. A large but unknown number of laborers died during the various construction phases, and some of them are buried within the wall.
13. For hundreds of years, the Great Wall was off limits to foreign visitors. It wasn’t “opened” for visitors until 1970. Since then, it has become the number-one tourist destination in China.
14. For years, local residents have been taking bricks from the wall to use on their own homes, farms and outbuildings. Some sections are in disrepair because of this.
15. It’s a fact that the Great Wall can be seen from space. Many photos have been taken by space shuttle and satellite missions over the years, and the wall stands out clearly.
16. Richard Nixon was the first U.S. president to visit the structure. He visited in 1972.
17. President Barack Obama visited there on November 18, 2009. “It gives you a good perspective on the fact that a lot of the day to day things that we worry about don’t amount to much compared to the sweep of history,” he said.
18. Today, tourists can find a Starbucks and a Kentucky Fried Chicken at the base of the wall. Sad but true.
19. If you are so inclined, you could run a marathon along the wall. There’s an official marathon there each year.
20. There are four main sections of the Great Wall of China. They are named Badaling, Simatai, Mutianyu and Jiayuguan. Badaling is the most frequently visited, because it is the best preserved of all four sections.
21. The Badaling section runs within 50 miles of Beijing, the capital city of China.

I hope you enjoyed these interesting facts about the Great Wall of China, and that you get the chance to visit it sometime. It’s impressive in pictures, but pictures just don’t do it justice.