Sorry for posting this review in wrong category, this review is not on shanghai its on the great wall of china
The longest wall on earth the great wall of china is still a
wonder that surprises everyone
This very large structure stretches fro 6, 300 kilometres
from the jiayu pass in gansu Province in the west to the mouth of the yalu river in liaoning province in the
east.The great wall is the only structure that is seen from the moon
In its period of greatest activity the great wall had 12
metres high towers from which watch was kept fro enemy troops These towers
stood every 60 metres and there were 40, 000 in all.A paved road wide enough for
six horsemen to ride by ride existed on top of the wall The average height of
the wall was 9metre.
Thousands of soldiers manned the gates and checked the
travelers and merchants who passed through the wall, messengers on horse back
galloped along the paved road and lit signal fires to warn of enemy attacks
Work on the great wall had been going on for
centuries, stopping at intervals and beginning again.It all started in the 7th
century B.C.China was then a divided
nation of quarrelling kingdom threatened by Hun raiders from the
north
Qin shi huangdi was the first emperor who
brought the warring kingdoms of china under a unified rule. He linked the
scattered defensive walls of northern kingdoms into a single 2, 000 kilometres
structure. Where possible the wall was built along the summit of mountains
which provided a formidable natural
barrier .Small armies were placed in fortified places at various points along
the wall. Each successive emperor added to the length breadth and height of the
wall
Much of the great wall that surivives today was built from
the 14th century onwards by the ming emperors who had their capital
at peking or peiping(Now new Beijing) .There were many small garrison towns
located along whole length of the great
wall.
Today only portions of the wall near the capital Beijing are preserved