Great Wall of China
The Rise and Fall of China's Great Wall
The rise and fall of China's Great Wall: the race to save a world treasure - Special Report
Current Events, Sept 27, 2002
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MADE OF BRICK, STONE, and dirt, the Great Wall twists and turns across China's landscape like a giant dragon. It seems to rise out of the sea at Bo Hal gulf, a place known to local people as Laolongtou, or "the old dragon's head." The wall then stretches across the plains, crawls along the sides of mountains and scales their peaks as it spans the Asian countryside.
This ancient wonder, built entirely by hand, often overwhelms visitors. On a trip to the wall in 1909, French scholar Auguste Gilbert de Voisins said, "Nothing stops it, nothing gets in its way; seeing it at this point, one might believe it to be eternal."
Today, however, neglect, misuse, and modernization threaten the giant dragon. Although the wall once stretched nearly 4,000 miles across China's northern border, only about 1,500 miles of China's Great Wall remain. The rest has fallen apart and disappeared.
This year, the World Monuments Fund placed the Great Wall on its list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. The group hopes to protect what's left of the wall and to encourage the Chinese government and others to save the historic structure. According to a World Monuments Fund report, "[The wall] was built to protect China; now China must protect it."
The Great Wall of Qin
China's Great Wall didn't start out so great. Begun nearly 2,300 years ago, the structure was a series of small fortifications. As early as 600 B.C., people in China built small walls around their homes and cities for protection. Soldiers guarded the gates around the city walls during the day and swung the gates shut at night.
During the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), leaders struggling for control of China built walls around entire kingdoms. Soldiers
The rise and fall of China's Great Wall: the race to save a world treasure - Special Report
Current Events, Sept 27, 2002
Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. It's free! Save it.
MADE OF BRICK, STONE, and dirt, the Great Wall twists and turns across China's landscape like a giant dragon. It seems to rise out of the sea at Bo Hal gulf, a place known to local people as Laolongtou, or "the old dragon's head." The wall then stretches across the plains, crawls along the sides of mountains and scales their peaks as it spans the Asian countryside.
This ancient wonder, built entirely by hand, often overwhelms visitors. On a trip to the wall in 1909, French scholar Auguste Gilbert de Voisins said, "Nothing stops it, nothing gets in its way; seeing it at this point, one might believe it to be eternal."
Today, however, neglect, misuse, and modernization threaten the giant dragon. Although the wall once stretched nearly 4,000 miles across China's northern border, only about 1,500 miles of China's Great Wall remain. The rest has fallen apart and disappeared.
This year, the World Monuments Fund placed the Great Wall on its list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. The group hopes to protect what's left of the wall and to encourage the Chinese government and others to save the historic structure. According to a World Monuments Fund report, "[The wall] was built to protect China; now China must protect it."
The Great Wall of Qin
China's Great Wall didn't start out so great. Begun nearly 2,300 years ago, the structure was a series of small fortifications. As early as 600 B.C., people in China built small walls around their homes and cities for protection. Soldiers guarded the gates around the city walls during the day and swung the gates shut at night.
During the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), leaders struggling for control of China built walls around entire kingdoms. Soldiers