Great Wall of China - The Chinese Dragon

When noticed from above the Excellent Wall of China appears like a dragon zigzagging more than mountain tops. The Chinese contact it "Wan Li Chang Cheng" which implies "Wall of ten,000 Li". (ten,000 li= five,000 km)

In fact, the Good Wall is 7,200 km extended. Height smart, it is four.5m to 9m. Depth smart, it is four.5m to 8m. The complete structure was constructed by hand employing stone, bricks, soil, sand, straw, wood, clay or what ever was offered based on the terrain.

3 key Chinese dynasties -- the Qin (B.C 221-207), Han (B.C 206- A.D 220) and Ming (A.D 1368-164four) -- constructed the Wonderful Wall of China. All had one goal -- to hold out the "barbaric" Huns in the north who regularly invaded Chinese border places. In all, tens of millions of persons labored on the Excellent Wall. Quite a few died.

Qin Shi Huang, the 1st Emperor of China, is credited with kicking off this enormous project 2,200 years ago. By connecting old sections with newly constructed ones, the Qin Dynasty erected four,800km of wall in ten years - over one km a day!

Immediately after the Qin, the Han Dynasty lengthy the Excellent Wall by way of the Gobi Desert. Watchtowers have been added to the walls. Smoke spirals developed by burning wood and straw mixed with wolf dung functioned as an alarm technique. One smoke column meant a force of one hundred guys was attacking; 2 columns signaled that over 500 males had been approaching, and so on.

The Wonderful Wall of China we know now was constructed by the Ming Dynasty 600 years ago. By then the ancient wall was in ruins. The Ming rulers rebuilt most of it more than a period of 200 years. That the wall is nevertheless in Fantastic situation now is due to an invention of that era, the adding of rice flour to make super sturdy bricks and mortar!

Kah Joon Liow is the author of the young children’s book "A Musical Journey: From the Good Wall of China to the Water Towns of Jiangnan". This book makes it possible for young children to practical experience China’s diverse land and individuals by means of exciting information, stunning drawings and delightful music. You can study chapters of the book and listen to the music at Living Chinese Symbols [http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com/amusicaljourney.html].