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Most of us just know the Great Wall of China as a big wall. It's located in China and
that's all there is to it, right? Wrong -- there is a long history behind this
majestic wall.
It was built over 2,000 years ago by the first emperor of China of the Qin
Dynast, Qin Shin Hunagdi. "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" is the Chinese name for the wall,
which translates to "the 10,000-li long wall." (Ten thousand li is equal to
about 5,000 kilometers.)
The emperor connected and extended four old fortification walls along the north
of China after subjecting
and uniting seven Warring States. The original walls were built about 700 B.C. (over 2,500
years ago). As a first line of defense against the
invading nomadic Hsiung Nu tribes from the north, armies were stationed along the
wall. Signal fires from the wall came as the first warning of attacks.
One of the biggest man-made buildings ever, people say the Great Wall can be seen from
Earth's orbit; however, it can not be seen from the moon. Constructed of
masonry, rocks and packed-earth, it extends over the mountains of China. It is
over 5,000 km long, and its thickness ranges from about 4.5 to 9 meters
(15 to 30 feet) and is up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) tall.
I hope you learned some new and useful information!
-Actingup9
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