Pictures from our June 2006 visit: The Great Wall continued...

Walls were first built as barriers between states during the Spring and Fall period--the oldest was built by the Kingdom of Qi in 500 BC and extended for 300 miles. When China was finally united in 221 BC under the Qin, the existing walls were linked together to protect the new China from invaders from the north.

The Han emperor extended the wall, but it was not until the Ming dynasty in the 14th century that an imperial regime was to have total control over its entire length again. The early Ming emperors almost entirely rebuilt the wall, extending it westward over 4,000 miles from Shanhaiguan to Jiayuguan. It was never to play such a significant role in Chinese history again--with the advent of the Manchus, who controlled the territory on both sides, the wall fell into disrepair.