When was the Great Wall of China built?

 

The Great Wall of China is a famous structure, stretching over 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) and running through five main provinces. So how long has this landmark been around? 

There is not one answer to that question, because the Great Wall itself wasn’t built all at once! China used to be a group of separate provinces. When it was united under the first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in 221 BC, one of the first things he did was begin to join together various defensive walls built across the kingdom, some from as early as 700 BC, in order to better protect the borders. 

The walls were strengthened and expanded throughout the following centuries, but it wasn’t until the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368-1644, when the Wall was strictly maintained for both military and civilian use. In particular, the Hongzhi Emperor, who ruled from 1470 until 1505, pioneered the used of different “passes” which connected the wall to Beijing and were vital in protecting the capital.

 

While some parts of the Wall have been well-preserved over the centuries (and, in the case of popular tourist sections, renovated and maintained), others have been neglected and may even disappear all together! Sections near the Gansu province are as short as two meters, due to natural occurrences like rain or erosion, while in other parts of the country the Wall is covered in graffiti and trash or knocked down to make way for modern construction.

Here are some more cool facts about this impressive structure:

 

China isn’t the only country that has built walls for military use - countries such as England, Korea, and even what is now Greece and Rome have as well.

Because the Wall wasn’t built all at once, or even by the same people, different materials have been used in parts all over the country, depending on what was available locally - sections are made out of everything from rock to tile to dirt or even grass and reeds.

The Great Wall is the only man-made object that is visible from space.

Soldiers stationed in the different towers would often communicate by fire or smoke signals, such as to warn of a coming attack.

In China, the Wall is sometimes referred to as “The Wall of 10,000 Li” (“li” being a Chinese unit of measurement that is equal to about 1 kilometer).