The Great Wall of China Info

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This page provides some of the Great Wall of China info that is fascinating yet may lay hidden to many:

-- One of the Chinese ancient inventions, wheelbarrows, were used extensively in building the Great Wall.

-- Watchtowers were built at regular intervals along the Great Wall. Some of them can be up to 40 feet tall. They functioned as lookouts, fortresses and for housing garrisons of troops and stockpiled supplies. They were also used as signal stations, where smoke, beacons, or flags were used for messages. They also represented a tremendous diversity of architectural styles.

-- The Silk Road was under the protection of the Great Wall’s western section. There was a long chain of watchtowers built over there.

-- Parts of the Great Wall were surrounded by defensive moats, which were either filled with water or left as ditches

-- The last battle fought at the Great Wall was in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War, which was between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. Bullet marks can still be seen in the Wall at Gubeikou.

-- The Great Wall of China is 25 feet high in some places and ranges from 15-30 feet wide.

-- The highest point of the Great Wall is in Beijing at Heita Mountain (5,033 feet, about 1,534 meters). The lowest point is at Laolongtou which is at sea level.

-- There are over forty million foreign visitors to the Great Wall of China every year.

-- The challenge that the Great Wall faces today is how to strike a balance between protecting the Wall and marketing it. Because it is a symbol of national pride and a hot spot for tourism, it may be damaged due to its popularity.

-- The two organizations that are dedicated to preserving the Great Wall are: the China Great Wall Society and the International Friends of the Great Wall.

-- A section of the Great Wall in the Gansu province might disappear in the next 20 years if the erosion continues.

-- A Great Wall of China info that is well known but is in debate is: it is the longest man-made structure and the only man-made creation visible from space.

Here are more of the Great Wall of China Facts.