Known to the Chinese as "10,000 Mile Long Wall", the Great Wall was constructed 2,000 years ago during the Qing Dynasty (221-207 BC). It stretches from Shanhaiguan on the east and ended at Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert. The total length is said over 5,000 km. It took thousands of hard labors and 10 years to complete the construction. There are many stories talked about how harsh the life was during the construction time.

The purpose of the Great Wall was to stop invasion from the north. Today the Great Wall has become a symbol of China and the only man-made construction on earth visible from space. It is the number one tourist attraction in Beijing that most of tourists would like to be there to see such huge engineering work by the ancient Chinese.

Badaling

The Great Wall crosses five provinces and two autonomous regions. For most of the tourists, they will go to Badaling, 70 km from Beijing. Many tourist packages or bus tours are offered to take you there. You can take a cable car to the top of the wall, which is 1,000 above elevation, and overlook the Great Wall extended into the hills and mountains. The Great Wall Circle Vision Theatre will show you a 15 minutes film. Food is plenty, from Macdonald, Kentucky Chicken, to Peking Duck.

Shanhaiguan

Shanhaiguan is a charming city by the east coast of China. It was the battlefield in the ancient China that the "First Pass Under Heaven" is well known for. The city has four gates and you can still see some remains of the past. "Old Dragon Head" leading the Great Wall to meet with the sea. It is the starting point of the Great Wall.

Jiayuguan

Here is the end of the Great Wall or the tail of the Dragon. It is located in Gansu Province where the Gobi Desert is. All dynasties in ancient China exercised loose control on boundary beyond this point out to the west. The Jiayuguan Fort was later build in Ming Dynasty in late 14th Century. The other attraction is the "Overhanging Great Wall", which was built in mid 16th Century. The "Silk Road" starts from here to the west and the most famous Dunhuang Grotto is also nearby.

There are many theories trying to convince the world that Chinese threatens the world peace. All these have been motivated by the G8, the West and Japan. As matter of fact, Chinese is very reserved and the Great Wall was used for defense purpose. The nation tends to live by themselves if without the West aggression in the last 100 years. It is the West attempting to expand into China, not the other way around