The Great Wall of China

Located about 70 kilometers from Beijing, this is the best-preserved section of the world famous Great Wall and also its highest point.

The 10,000 Li Great Wall. Construction of this wall began over 2,500 years ago, but it was not until the 14th century that it attained its present form and size. It averages 7.8 meters high and 5.8 meters across the top.

The Ming bricks were a marvel of engineering holding up to a pressure of over 1000 pounds per square inch. The mortar was of super strength. The mortar was stronger than the bricks themselves. The puzzle of this super strength has now been solved. The mystery ingredient was rice flour. With innovations like these, the Ming was able to build spectacular monuments. A feature of the wall was water drainage systems that channeled the water to the Chinese side and withheld the water to the enemy side and thus inhibiting plant growth and so deny cover to the attackers.

At regular intervals on the Great Wall are battlements for troops to help defend the wall. The great Wall really never was very successful in that the Emperors often forgot to pay the soldiers and the enemy did so they could go through. There is an old proverb: "If you don't pay your servants they will pay themselves."

The wall caused more problems than it solved. No society could sustain such a terrible burden. Taxation became heavier and heavier. Some 3,500,000 people were involved in the building of the Great Wall. That was 70% of the total population of China at that time. For each worker working on the wall, six were required to feed and support them. Construction of the Qin wall became the most hated imperial project in Chinese history.