why Great wall of china is special
The Great Wall of China is by far mankind's most extensive
construction endeavor.In its heyday in the 16th and 17th centuries, it snaked
6400 kilometers (4000 miles) across northern China
It zig-zags up and down
steep ridges and is punctuated with imposing watchtowers, making the Great Wall
of China one of the most photogenic man-made structures on earth
Today, the
Great Wall is the travel icon of China.- and one of the leading vacation travel
destinations in the world
Why the Great Wall of China was
built
Among the many reasons: 0
To serve as lookout postsThe ancient
Chinese had rational fears about being invaded by nomad armies from the
north
To provide the army with a swift early warning system - Fire
signals (nighttime) and smoke signals (daytime) were relayed from one Great Wall
watchtower to another. Messages could be rapidly sent over great
distances

To create an elevated military roadway through the rugged
terrain - This helped speed the deployment of soldiers from one area to another
along the Great Wall of China
To impede invaders - This worked against
feeble armies. However, the Great Wall of China would serve more as a
psychological than a physical barrier against a determined, well-manned military
force. A formidable invader could easily breach a lightly guarded part of the
wall. Or, it could muscle its way through one of the gaps between the individual
wall sections
Debunking a Great Wall myth
It is popularly written
that the Great Wall of China is so long that you could see it with the unaided
eye from an orbiting spacecraft (and some say from the moon) That would be
impossible. Despite the Great Wall's extraordinary length, it's too narrow to be
seen from an orbiting spacecraft without a telescope or super binoculars.
Spotting the Great Wall from that height is analogous to being able to see a
stretched-out mile-long thread on the ground while standing on top of a
ten-story building
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