How long is the Great Wall of China

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A.� About 4,500 miles.

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Q.� Its course

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Q.� Who built it

A.� Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th Century BC. States ruled by the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own earthworks, then walls, for defence. Qin Shihuangdi, first Emperor of Qin, conscripted peasants and anyone else who wasn't tied to the land to work on the wall. He garrisoned armies to stand guard over the workers as well as to defend the northern boundaries. The tradition lasted for centuries. Each dynasty added to the height, breadth, length, and elaborated the design mostly through forced labour. The joined-up walls, extended to more than 10,000 li (3,100 iles, 5,000km), managed to hold off invaders from the Xiongnu tribes in the north.

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Q� And it has been standing since then

A.� With many renovations! Major work was undertaken with the founding of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and took 200 years to complete. Brick and granite work was enlarged and sophisticated designs added. Watch towers were redesigned and cannon were mounted in strategic areas. The Ming emperors, having expelled their Mongol rulers of the north,devoted many raw materials and manpower to making sure that they didn't return.

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Q.� And is any of that wall still in existence

A.� Yes. The wall we see today is almost entirely from that era. It extends to the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west and to the mouth of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east.

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Q.� So it served the Chinese well

A.� Through the centuries, armies were garrisoned along the length of the wall to provide early warning of invasion and a first line of defence. Great piles of straw and dung used to build signal fires have been found during excavations. And garrison towns were built to accommodate the soldiers because there were so few settlements near the wall's bleak outposts. Supply trails were over mountains along narrow paths. To bring supplies to the top, ropes were slung over posts in the Chinese side of the wall and baskets hauled up. Supplies must have always been short, particularly in the winter.

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Q.� But China was invaded

A.� Yes - but through no fault of the wall. Only when a dynasty had been weakened from within were invaders from the north able to conquer. Both the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911) were able take power because of weakness in the government and the poverty of the people.

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Q.� And it's still standing

A.� Much of it - but in common with Hadrian's Wall (click here for a feature upon that), locals often plundered it as a source of building materials. In some sections, the middle part has been removed and filled with sand or earth.

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Steve Cunningham