You might think what is so great about something made in China. Almost every thing is made in china these days. But this wall was made many, many hundreds of years ago. The wall was built in the 3rd century BC by the order of Chinese emperors to keep the invaders out of their country. The wall was not built at one stretch, different parts of the wall were built at different times. They were later unified together into what we know as the Great Wall of China today.

The world’s longest wall and biggest ancient architecture runs almost 20,000 Kms across the mountains and valleys of Northern China. Thousands of men worked just with their hands to make this wall. They had no help from the machines at that time all they had was their hands.

The wall was primarily built with brick and stone and interestingly in some parts, using mud and rammed earth, chalk, lime, wood and stones.  It is these parts built with mud etc. that are prone to fall down or get eroded during sandstorms or rains. Locals believe that as much as 60 km long stretch of the wall in a north-western province of the country might disappear in the the next 20 years.

The purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, making sure that the enemy is not entering pretending to be a citizen and thus protection for the Chinese people. The people of China felt much safer after the construction of the Wall. There were watch towers on the Wall, and if any enemy approached smoke signals were sent out alerting the emperors armies. The road with the Great Wall was used to transport goods from one place to another.

However, the Great Wall could not fully protect the people. There were holes in the wall at the far and lonely places. Enemies entered the country from here. The wall also kept the Chinese people away from the modernization for a long time.

Considering its importance in history, In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) placed the Great Wall on its list of the world’s heritage sites. The Great Wall, only work built by human hands on this planet that can be seen from the moon is actually a misconception believed by many people. Nonetheless, it is indeed a masterpiece.