Photos

This is the Great Wall of China - or should I say one very tiny section of The Great of China. This photograph was taken just west of Badaling which lies about 70km north of Beijing and at an elevation of approximately 1,000m.

The ancient Chinese fortified their cities and states with enormous walls and by 290 B.C. these walls dotted the country's northern border When the Mongolian people began to pose a threat to Emperor Qin (227 - 201 B.C.) he ordered thousands of labourers to link the existing walls to form one colossal Great Wall.

The Great Wall of China twists and turns for more than 5,000km across the northern regions of China from the east coast and on west into the Gobi desert.

By the time of the Sui Dynasty in A.D. 589 - 1279 the wall was a crumbling mess. It was rebuilt but the wall was difficult to man because of its size and the Mongols swept into China.

The section of the wall shown in the photo above was last restored in 1957.

It was bitterly cold when I arrived early in the morning, with patches of snow on the shadowed side of the wall but the sun was fierce and soon, with the effort of walking, I was down to a t-shirt and still sweating profusely!

Image framed in Photoshop, otherwise unchanged.

Regards,

Rich