The Great Wall of China is implausible proof of the engineering capability of the Chinese people. To dimension the almost 5,000 kilometers of wall, walking the entire length would take 18 months.
While areas have been wrecked over time, it has been restored, enlarged, and beautified through time by several dynasties, laced alongside the chaotic metropolis of Beijing, to deserts, mountains, and farmland that has been untouched for generations. The sequence of stone fortifications can be explored at any time. Here is five curious facts about China’s Great Wall:
- Because so many people perished building it, the Great Wall was dubbed «the longest graveyard on earth.» More than one million people died during its construction.
- The Great Wall of China, contrary to popular perception, cannot be viewed from the moon without assistance. In 1893, The Century, an American magazine, stated that the Great Wall could be seen from space, and in 1932, Robert Ripley revived this theory.
- It is a fallacy that the Great Wall was erected as a single, continuous wall all at once. In truth, the wall is a patchwork of wall parts constructed by many dynasties to safeguard China’s northern border.
- It is widespread knowledge that the mortar used to connect the stones were created from human bones or buried within the Great Wall to strengthen it. Nevertheless, the mortar was made of rice flour, and no human or animal bones have ever been discovered in any of the Great Wall’s walls.
- The Chinese Great Wall is also known as the Wanli Changcheng, or Long Wall of 10,000 Li (a li is a unit of measurement equal to 1/3 mile). The main wall is approximately 2,145 miles (3,460 kilometers) long, with additional branches and spurs totaling 1,770 miles (2,860 kilometers).