The Great Wall of China

the Great Wall of China

The greatest engineering work in the world

The Great Wall of China is the most visited tourist site in the world, with billions of visits every day. On October 1, 2014, a national holiday, the monument was visited by 8 million people. All in one day!

The Chinese government jealously guarded its borders, and only in 1605 did they allow passage to the Portuguese Jesuit explorer Bento de Góis who became the first European to set foot on the great wall. Four centuries later, on January 26, 2007, the wall was announced as one of the winners to make the list of The New Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

The Great Wall is an ancient Chinese fortress built and rebuilt between the 5th century B.C. and the sixteenth century to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire during the successive imperial dynasties of the attacks of the nomadic Xiongnu of Mongolia and Manchuria. Including its secondary constructions, it is estimated to be about 21,200 kilometers long, running from the border with Korea, to the edge of the Yalu River, to the Gobi Desert, along an arch that roughly delineates the southern edge of Mongolia. Today, only 30% of it is conserved. On average, it measures 6 to 7 meters (20 ft) high and 4 to 5 meters (15ft) wide.

The highest point of the wall is in the Heita mountain, at about 1500 meters (0.9 miles) above sea level.