China Review: The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China has to be seen to be believed.

Unlike other engineering projects of the ancient world, such as the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall was not entirely a single construction undertaken at a specific period of time. During the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods (8th-3rd centuries BC), China was divided into a number of petty kingdoms constantly at war with one another, and with surrounding peoples. Many of the northern kingdoms built local walls as a defensive measure against their nomadic tribal neighbours. However, after China was unified by the Emperor Qin Qi Huang in 222BC, he decided to create a single defensive wall to protect his northern border.

The result was the Great Wall, which linked the local walls together and created vast new stretches of wall. To be sure, later dynasties carried out their own works on the Wall, extending and strengthening the existing battlements (indeed, the Great Wall as it is seen by most tourists is the product of extensive Ming Dynasty construction); but the Great Wall as it essentially exists was the product of the Qin Dynasty.

It is reported that more than one million Chinese worked on the Wall, and for most of them, being drafted into the workforce was a death sentence - or, at the very least, a decree in effect that they were to be permanently relocated. It is estimated that thousands of labourers died during the Wall's construction from a variety of causes ranging from exposure to the elements, lack of food, construction accidents, and sheer neglect by imperial officials. When you consider that the population of China at this time is estimated to have been about 5 million people, the scale of the project - and the human suffering it engendered - becomes apparent. And simply beggars belief.

We went to the Wall near a place called Simatai, about two hours out of Beijing. Unfortunately, the smog from the city followed us all the way out to the countryside, although it was nowhere near as bad as Beijing itself, and in any event did not spoil the spectacle. The landscape appeared dead and barren, nothing more than dry, brown grass and rocky earth. This was a stark reminder that the land approaching Beijing is an upland plateau, where sparse rain and seasonal cold combine to produce what is essentially tundra. Indeed, the winters are so harsh that the grass is either burned off or falls dormant - which accounts for the brownness of the land.

Simatai itself is a remote valley nestled amid steep mountains. Relatively few tourists go there (which is precisely what attracted us to the location), but there were nevertheless the ubiquitous stalls at the entrance selling all sorts of nik-naks to the tourists. Up until this point, I had managed to avoid playing the tourist, but on this occasion I succumbed and bought a fur-lined army hat with ear flaps and a bright red star at the front. It made me look very silly (or sillier than I normally look, if you insist on absolute accuracy of reporting!); but I can assure you, I was extremely grateful for the ear flaps once we climbed up onto the Wall itself!

Our first glimpse of the Great Wall was both breath-taking and daunting. High above the valley floor, running along a line of razor-back ridges, the Wall lept from precipice to precipice almost like a living creature - no wonder it was often called the Great Dragon. At regular intervals, square towers jutted toward the sky like the remote eyries of some bird of prey. With a sense of foreboding and anticipation, we started the climb toward the Wall.

It was exhausting! The path to the Wall was smooth and well-made, but the land rose in sharp inclines that taxed our stamina - and as most of you will know, I have very little of that to begin with! Once we met the ruined turret where the path met the Wall, we were faced by long, seemingly endless banks of steps to the next watchtower. Needless to say, I only managed a modest amount of climbing before enough was enough. Others of our party, much fitter than Yours Truly, managed to climb to impressive heights. Indeed, Gary, the other adult on the trip, was virtually skipping up the inclines, with a smile on his dial and a song on his lips - much to my annoyance!

Even so, the view from the watchtower where I stopped to rest/have a coronary was extraordinary. The valley of Simatai lay before me, while to either side, the mountains rose to even greater heights. In the distance, the vista consisted of line after line of jagged peaks, much like the serried ranks of approaching warriors. A chill wind whippd across the Wall, forcing me to once more don the jacket I had stripped off during the climb - and making me glad of my furry hat!

It struck me that life for the soldiers garrisoning the Wall must have been pretty miserable; but for those troops stationed along this particular section, their existence must have been especially wretched. Each watchtower looked like it could house between 20 and 50 soldiers, and it would have been their lot to pace the Wall, keeping a lookout for incursions from the wild tribal lands beyond. The conditions in which they did so ranged from freezing cold to blistering heat, and like all frontier troops, they probably suffered from a combination of boredom, exposure, poor supply, and the depradations of a remote, indifferent officialdom.

And the reality is that, impressive an achievement though it undoubtedly is, the Great Wall was relatively ineffective. It was too static a defence to deal with the highly mobile tribal nations of the north, and the troops were spread far too thinly along its great length to be of any use to any particular section that was under attack. Certainly, the Great Wall proved entirely ineffective against Genghis Khan and his Mongols, as well as against the later Manchu invaders who established China's last dynasty, the Qing.

But all of this was of little moment as we contemplated the views, marvelled at the titanic scale of the construction, and pondered the enormous human cost that accompanied the Wall's completion and maintenance. Words do not do justice to the spectacle of the Wall, and pictures can only convey a partial image, at best. The Great Wall really has to be seen to be believed!

Talk to you soon,

BB.

Quote for the Day: Let observation with extensive view, survey mankind, from China to Peru; remark each anxious toil, each eager strife, and watch the busy scenes of crowded life. (Samuel Jonson).