In ancient times, Yulin used to be the northernmost border of China. Various walls were built throughout the centuries with the earliest dating to the 5th century BC right up to the 15th century AD, covering the rule of several dynasties. Some preserved walls and forts can still be found in Yulin and nearby cities but the most significant is Zhenbeitai Tower, the largest watchtower on the Great Wall.
Located about 3mi (5km) north of Yulin, the tower is affectionately referred to as the heart of the dragon, with its head in Laolongtou (far east) and its tail in Jiayuguan (far west).
Built in 1607 during the Ming Dynasty, its purpose was to protect the markets where Mongolians and local people could trade in peace. It was an important marketplace because highly prized Mongolian horses were traded along with cloth, silk, tea and salt.
The watchtower is connected to the southwest corner of the wall. Tapering towards the top, the tower rises across four levels to a height of 98ft (30m) and average base width of 230ft (70m). Each level is narrower than the one below. The surrounding wall is around 550ft (167m) wide with the northwest corner linked to remnants of the Great Wall. Made of rammed earth, it is dressed in bricks and stone.
From the top floor to the north is the Yellow River, flowing through the large Hongshixia Reservoir, heading south for hundreds of miles.
Within the surrounding walls was Kuangong City, where officials used to entertain Mongolian messengers and discuss foreign affairs. During peacetime, Mongolians showered the emperors with gifts such as livestock and in return they would receive silk, cloth and medicine. It was a prosperous city in the past but very little is left today.
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First built in 1505 to protect the Juyong Pass, Badaling was fully restored in the 1950s and was the first section to open to tourism. Badaling is also the last major tourist centre and is where the Wall that most people know about ends.
Stretching across mountain ridges, the width of the Wall is 19ft (5.7m), intentionally built to accommodate five horsemen galloping across side by side or ten soldiers marching shoulder to shoulder. Split into north and south, Badaling has 30 watchtowers – eight south of the main gate and 12 north of it. Its highest point is at 3,300ft (1,500m) with grand panoramic views of lush landscape and rocky terrain. Boardwalks and railings have been installed as part of the renovations.
Close to Beijing, Badaling was a major defence border on the northern frontier. When Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian tribes and established his empire, he set his sights on China. Many military conquests north of the Wall ensued over the next sixty years until his grandson, Kublai Khan, ascended the throne as Mongol Emperor in 1260. Establishing the Yuan Dynasty a decade later, he set up his capital in modern-day Beijing. When in 1279, he conquered the Song Dynasty in southern China, Kublai reunified the country and became the first Mongol to rule all of China. The Yuan Dynasty ruled until 1368 when they were defeated by the rebel leader Zhou Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty.
Famous merchant and explorer, Marco Polo, spent 17 years in Kublai Khan’s court. He learned the language and served as a messenger. He was promoted several times to government official positions, something that was unheard of before, when most of China was closed to foreigners. Kublai Khan encouraged foreign trade and many envoys travelled by sea to visit China. When Polo returned to Venice, it was a turbulent time and he found himself thrown in jail. It was in jail where he penned his book, ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’. For a long time, his book was seen more as fiction than fact but in recent times his accounts have been verified by academics and other explorers.
When Christopher Columbus set off across the Atlantic two hundred years later, he carried with him Marco Polo’s book. Fact or fiction, Marco Polo inspired generations of globetrotting adventurers.
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Whilst Emperors dictated the building of the Great Wall, it was a handful of exceptional military leaders that made it happen. During the Ming Dynasty two names pop up again and again as the commanders in charge of the various constructions.
General Qi Jiguang – 16th century
Qi Jiguang was raised in a military family. He began his military career at 17 and was relieved of duty after 38 years of service. Spending most of his career fighting the Mongols in the north or the pirates in the east, Qi was instrumental in developing new combat tactics that helped defeat China's enemies. As such, he was put in charge of training the imperial guards and was promoted to the highest military rank of Commissioner-in-Chief.
During his time on the Wall, he undertook a massive expansion project, repairing and reinforcing the Wall’s defences, installing as many as 1,000 watchtowers over a 380mi (608km) stretch. These works helped fend off the northern enemies for more than a decade until the Ming Dynasty was replaced. Qi was also known for documenting his thoughts on military strategy into two books and wrote many poems and works of prose.
General Xu Da – 14th century
Young Xu Da grew up at the tail end of the Yuan Dynasty, led by the Mongol empire. Playing warlike games with Zhu Yuanzhang, he was unaware of the fate that awaited both of them in later years. Zhu became a prominent rebel leader with Xu serving as a general. In 1368, together, they led an attack on the capital city and forced the Yuan ruler out, becoming the founders of the newly formed Ming Dynasty, with Zhu as its first emperor and Xu as a general and later a politician. Xu’s first task in relation to the Great Wall was to build the Shanhai Pass near the sea, which he completed in less than two years. He went on to build many sections of the Wall that were reinforced two centuries later by Qi Jiguang. Xu remained in the emperor’s service for 32 years until his passing.
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About 4mi (6.4km) from Old Dragon’s Head, in the centre of a large town, was the old fortress Shanhaiguan (Shanhai Pass). Built by General Xu Da in 1381, it was fortified and expanded by General Qi Jiguang in 1583 to seal off passage from the Manchu tribes in the northeast. It was the most important pass on the Wall.
Shanhaiguan did a fine job safeguarding the country until years of drought and famine gave rise to numerous peasant rebellions. At the same time, the Ming armies were busy defending the northern borders from the Manchu tribes. It all came to a head in 1644 when the city of Beijing fell at the hands of the rebels. Hoping to oust the rebels and restore order, a powerful Ming general sought assistance from the Manchu leader. Forming an alliance, the general surrendered Shanhaiguan, essentially throwing the doors open for the Manchu to enter. However, the Manchu had their own agenda, and once through the Pass they set about conquering Beijing and replacing the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was born and it ruled for nearly 300 years until it was abolished in 1912.
The fortress, in a near-square shape, had a barbican on its east side. Arrow towers used to be at each gate but only one remains today. The walls were made of rammed earth covered with bricks. Views of Jiaoshan Wall to the north and the sea to the south can be seen from the top of the east tower.
Jiaoshan Wall was outside the city and it was named after the highest peak north of Shanhai Pass. Its translation is ‘Horn Peak’. This is the Great Wall’s first mountain climb. Built during the reign of the first Ming emperor (c. 14thC), Jiaoshan sealed the access between Shanhai Pass and the mountainous region of the China-Manchuria border.
Jiaoshan was built of locally quarried materials. A small section, less than a mile, has been restored with wide paths leading up the mountain to the unrestored section, where the path began to narrow. Some of the battlements along the Wall were built on only one side, with steep cliffs providing natural defence on the other. A few of the watchtowers were so high that metal ladders were installed to provide access.
Proceeding up the mountain, Jiaoshan ended at the Big Flat Summit on Dapingding Peak. Here I was afforded views of Jiaoshan Wall and Shanhaiguan to the south, Changshou Mountain to the north and the substantial Shihe Reservoir to the west.
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The Great Wall of China (‘’the Wall”) is one of the most remarkable man-made structures in the world, with the longest building timeline. Beginning in the 7th century BC it continued on and off over several centuries until it peaked in the mid-17th century AD.
The Chinese were masters at building walls. First, they built them around their homes and cities as protection from their ferocious nomadic neighbours. Then, they built them to protect their borders from the wars that raged within their own nation. Most walls were of varying lengths and scattered throughout the land.
The Qin Dynasty squashed the various internal wars, unifying China in 221BC and established the First Empire. Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor and a ruthless ruler, used hundreds of thousands of people to connect and extend the existing walls for defence. By the end of this dynasty 3,000mi (4,800km) of wall ran along the northern border.
The Han Dynasty came next and building on the Wall ceased for a short period. Focus turned to peacetime and opening trade with the West. However, the nomads began raiding again, reprising the need for the Wall to be repaired and extended further. Safeguarding travelling traders became just as important as keeping the nomads out.
After the Han, the Wall was left neglected and crumbling. Vulnerable to attack, it was the sheer size of the Chinese army that kept most intruders at bay until Kublai Khan, a fierce Mongol warrior, forced his way into the capital and took the throne. With both sides of the Wall now Mongol territory, the Wall was no longer needed. Abandoned, much of the early construction disintegrated over time and very little now remains.
The Mongol rule was never accepted. A few decades after Kublai’s death, an uprising forced all the Mongols out and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644AD) came into power. With the capital city in Beijing, it was much too close to the enemy border. A new wall was rebuilt from scratch. At time of completion, the Wall was 5,500mi (8,850km) long, built by millions of soldiers and forced labourers over a period of 200 years. It is the remnants of this Wall that continues to exist today.
This journey of 2,183mi (3,513km) will begin at its most eastern end where the Wall meets the sea. Regarded as the start of the Great Wall, it is known as Laolongtou (Old Dragon’s Head) because the structure, consisting of a beacon tower and battlement walls, resembles a dragon drinking water from the sea.
The Wall twists and turns its way through the landscape, just like the legendary Chinese Dragon. It crosses mountains tightly straddling narrow cliffs, over lakes and sometimes under, into valleys and through deserts until it reaches the westernmost point ending in a remote outpost in Yangguan.
From the sea breeze on the wall of Laolongtou to the searing sun of the Gobi Desert, I hope to piece together the lengthy story of the Great Wall and the Emperors, Dynasties and Generals that left their mark on it.
Fast facts to give some sense of timeline and the main dynasties during the Wall’s construction:
5th to 3rd century BC – Warring States (Chinese states fighting amongst each other)
221 to 206 BC – Qin Dynasty (First Empire)
206 BC to 220 AD – Han Dynasty
386 to 577 AD – Northern and Southern Dynasties
1125 to 1234 AD – Jin Dynasty (conquered by Mongols)
1368 to 1644 AD – Ming Dynasty (Builders of currently existing wall)
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