CHINA MOOD

The Great Wall

 Beijing China.

Spring wakes the Great Wall  from a long winter slumber.

The mountains looks like a huge Dragon.

Forests are dyed crimson, and the entire mountain is covered with red leaves.

On a snowy day the Great Wall looks like a swirling silver snake.

The Great Wall is a symbol of the dauntlessly indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation, and a crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese people in ancient times. It is a tourist attraction that draws a constant stream of adventurous explorers, sightseers, and those who cherish the past.

The Great Wall extends for five thousand kilometers from east to west in north China like a gigantic dragon serpentining  its way across deserts, grasslands, and mountains. To either heads of state or ordinary people from every part of the world, it being a wonder in the history of world architecture, stands high as the irresistible allurement. Many of it's sections and passes have been designated by the Chinese government as key national cultural sites. In 1987 the Great Wall was inscribed in the list of the world cultural heritage by the UNESCO. 

It took more than two millennia for the Great Wall to be completed beginning from the seventh century BC, that is during the Spring and Autumn and warring states periods. when the rivaling states - Chu, Qi, Wei, Han, Yan, Qin, Zhao, - constructed walls around their territories for self-defence. In 221 BC, after qinshihuang unified China, he had the defense walls of Qin, Yan and Zhao linked, and new sections added, so that the Great Wall became a 5,000km affair.

Later dynasties continued to build on the Great Wall to ward off invasions by the northern nomads. However, the defensive walls built in different places, and during different periods were not on the same line. The Great Wall continued to grow in length during the Qin (221-206 BC), Han (206 BC-220) and Ming (1398-1644) dynasties.

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