Beijing has been playing the part of the capital of China from the emperor Mingchengzu moving the capital from Nanjing.It has seen many important incidents in history.It is one of well-known cities in the world.Lots of cultural relics and places of interest are here.Among them,the Great Wall and the Forbidden City are the most famous.The Great Wall which could been seen from the moon is considered to be the symbol of China.Let's go inside to have a look!
Construction of the Great Wall began between the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. when the warring states put up mammoth defensive walls to ward off enemies from the north . After it unified the country, the Chin Dynasty linked up the defensive walls of the former states of Chin,Yan and Zhao to guard against the belligerent Xiongnu in the north. The Wall was further extended and strengthened in the succeeding dynasties.Especially during the Ming Dynasty when the northern nomadic ethnic groups became very powerful, the Ming rulers had the Wall renovated 18 times, linking it up to a full length of 6,700 kilometers.
The section of the Great Wall near Beijing runs for 629 kilometers with 71 passes and 827 wall towers. The wall is so well preserved that it is as imposing as ever.
There are three famous sections at Badaling,Mutianyu and Simatai, all not far from Beijing.
The section of the Wall at Badaling looms high above the Juyongguan Pass. It is admired for its majestic view. That at Mutianyu snakes along the mountain ridges. The wall is punctuated by fortresses and people like it for its architectural splendor. The section at Jinshanling, sprawling over mountain peaks, is known for its awe-inspiring look.
The section of the Wall at Mutianyu is in the northeast of Beijing.The Great Wall is like a huge dragon in the ocean here.It is not dangerous to climb up,so there are many sentries here.Sometimes there are only 50 meters between each other.This section is made up of bricks which are hollow.It was said that this kind of technique was brought here from the south by Qijiguang(a famous Gen).
"If you don't climb up the Great Wall, you'll never make yourself a hero". This means the toughness of climbing the Great Wall of Badaling, but there is another famous Great Wall called Simatai which still remains Ming Dynasty appearance and even more dangerous to climb up. The most unique is Simatai is a water side one, you can only see a waterside Great Wall at Simatai 110KM northeast of Beijing.
