Top Attraction Of China The Great Wall Of China

 

According to legend, the Great Wall was built by the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang (Reigned 221-210 BC), though historical records trace the true origin of the wall to defensive fortifications built in the fifth century BC From the statement "Square walls surround the Kingdom of Chu," we can trace walls with a total length of 500 kilometers in what is now Henan Province dating back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC). In addition to Chu, the kingdoms of Qin, Qi, Wei, Zhao, Han and Yan all had their own separate defensive walls spread about through the Yellow and Yangtze River basins, running in different directions and beginning and ending abruptly. The walls of this period bear little relationship to the wall of today with its predominantly east-west configuration.

In 221 BC, the armies of Qin conquered the abovementioned six kingdoms and unified China. Qin Shi Huang ordered the demolition of the walls separating these kingdoms and rebuilt a new "Great Wall," based on the walls protecting the northern frontiers of Yan, Zhao and Qin. According to the Records of the Historian (shiji), written approximately 100 BC, "General Meng Tian mobilized 300,000 laborers and built a great wall which followed the contour of the land, taking advantage of natural defenses." This wall extended more than 6,000 kilometers from Lintiao (in Gansu Province) to Liaodong. Thus the general plan of today's Great Wall was laid down during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

During the Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 220) Which followed the Qin, in addition to making improvements in the Qin wall, the Han emperors constructed a separate outer wall north of the Yinshan Range with a total length of 10,000 kilometers. This was the longest single wall built in ancient China. After the fall of the Han Dynasty, the wall gradually decayed into ruins. In 1368, the founding year of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu commanded his general Xu Da to direct the reconstruction of the Great Wall. Beginning at the Juyong Pass, the work went on for more than 100 years. Based on the general dimensions of the Qin Wall, the Ming wall stretched from its westernmost point at the Jiayu Pass more than 6,000 kilometers east to the Yalu River. The section, which lies between the Jiayu and Shanhai, passes remains in good condition today and is known throughout the world as the Great Wall of China.

 


Setting out from Beijing, the most popular destination for visiting the Great Wall is Badaling. Both trains and buses go to the northwest of the city proper in a deep mountain-flanked gully 15 kilometers long. In summer, the peaks here are covered with brilliant stretches of leaves and luxuriant flowers. As early as the 13th century, the area was known for its beauty, and was listed as one of the"Eight Great Sights of Yanjing." The name "Juyong" first appeared in the huainanzi, a philosophical work from the second century BC, in the following annotation: "The Juyong Pass is one of the nine great passes in the country."

To the west of the Juyong Pass is a white marble structure called the Cloud Platform (Yuntai), which was built in 1345 to serve as the foundation for a set of three stone pagodas built at the command of Emperor Huizong, the last ruler of the Yuan Dynasty. At this time, the structure was known as the Pagoda Bridge (Guojieta). After the pagodas were destroyed some time around the fall of the Yuan Dynasty (1368), the Great Peace Temple (Tai' ansi) was built to replace them. But the temple was burned down in 1702 during the reign of Emperor kangxi.

The Cloud Platform is pierced by a hexagonal arched gateway. Both the ceiling and facades are covered with Buddhist carvings, including depictions of the Four Heavenly Kings in relief executed with great detail and expressiveness. Texts of Dharani sutras and an inscription entitled "A Record of Charitable and Pious Pagoda Building" carved in six languages -- Lantsha (Nepalese Sanskirt), Tibetan, Phagspa Mongolian, Uygur, Western Xia and Han -- are valuable for the study of philology. The inner roof of the arch is covered with mandala patterns and Buddha images surrounded by flowers, all fine examples of Yuan Dynasty craftsmanship.

The Juyong Pass area contains many relics associated with popular legends. One of these relics, dating back to the Northern Song Dynasty, is the Five Heroes Temple, which commemorates the ostensible digging of the gully by five men of unusual strength. The fanciful name of the Playing the Zither Gorge (Tanqinxia) is derived from the clear and melodious sounds of the river flowing through it. 

Continuing on from the Juyong Pass, one will arrive at Badaling, the highest point along the entire length of the Great Wall. Between Badaling and Juyong Pass, two Chinese characters Tianxian (Natural Barrier) are carved into a steep and imposing cliff. During the Ming Dynasty, two fortifications were built in this area, the Northern Gate Pass on west and the Juyong Garrison on the east. By climbing up through the pass and looking westward, one will be able to see a chain of mountains stretching away to the horizon with a single defile leading through them. To the north of the ridges near the wall is the platform for Viewing the Capital (Wangjingtai) and on clear days the White Dagoba in Beijing Park can be seen from here. By climbing over another slope and following a flight of stone steps up to the highest point of the southern section of the wall, one can see the dragon-like Great Wall making its way over the mountains.

Strategic platforms were built every 300 to 500 meters along the wall. These platforms served a variety of purposes: for posting patrols and sentries; to serve as observation posts; and as battle platforms for offensive actions and weapon storage. Here there are also reinforcing walls built alongside the wall proper and beacon towers for transmitting military information.

The Badaling section of the Great Wall most frequented by visitors dates from the Ming Dynasty, Constructed of large blocks of granite and bricks, the wall at this point is 6.6 meters high and 6.5 meters wide at its base, narrowing to 5.5 meters on the rampart. It is wide enough to permit five or six horses to stand abreast.

In recent years, the Chinese government has carried out restoration work on the sections of the wall which have collapsed or been eroded by wind and sand. Despite this, the great increase in tourists at the Great Wall in recent years has led experts to suggest the opening of a "second Badaling" to accommodate the great number of visitors. The "second Badaling" is located to the northeast of Beijing proper and can be reached by bus in approximately two hours. Built on the Great and lesser Gold mountains (Jinshan), this section is also called the Gold Mountain Great Wall. According to historical records, the construction of this part of the wall was begun in 1571, and is part of the 1,000-kilometer-long section of the wall between the Shanhai Pass in the east and Changping County in the west, which was the result of cooperation between two famous Ming generals, Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun. In terms of construction it is in no way inferior to the wall at Badaling.

The Great Wall at the Gold Mountain is seven meters high, six meters wide, and built of rectangular slabs of stone. The brick-paved walkway along the top of the wall is four meters wide and the crenellated openings two meters wide. In the merlons (the solid intervals between the crenels) there are small holes for observation and shooting arrows. There are also special openings between the crenels to insert flags for display or signal transmission.

The 158 battle platforms in the Gold Mountain section of the Great Wall were designed in a great variety of shapes-square, circular, oval and multi-cornered. Their interiors are constructed of wood or brick and their roofs are flat, domed or barrel-vaulted. There are also variations in the shape of the archways, which give access to the battle platforms.

To the north of Tiger Mountain is a huge solitary piece of rock, which has in it an indentation one meter in diameter and 20 cm deep called the Spring of Heaven. The water from this spring flows continuously in both the rainy and fry seasons. Near the spring is a defense tower called the Five Eyes Tower. Unique in design, the body of the tower is made of rectangular stone blocks and the roof of polished bricks. Inside there are two large barrel-vaulted ceilings, three corridors, 10 arched openings and a central octagonal dome supported by four brick columns arranged in a square. The stone columns are decorated with relief carvings of flowers, which add a touch of elegance to this otherwise austere building. Standing atop this tower, one can see the Great Wall winding its way along the contours of the mountains. From this vantage point, the wall appears like a ribbon of jade linking the Wuling Mountain (the highest peak of the Yanshan Range) with the Sleeping Tiger Range near Gubeikou.

Leaving the Five Eyes Tower and proceeding along the wall, one comes to the Tower for Viewing the Capital (Wangjinglou), which sits at a strategic point in Tiger Mouth Peak. The tower commands a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. Off to the southwest, the mirror-like surface of Miyun Reservoir appears, the outline of Beijing can be seen in the early morning and the city lights become visible at night. 

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall was opened to tourists on May 1, 1986. Located 73 kilometers from Beijing proper, it joins the Juyong Pass in the west and Gubeikou in the east. A new 4,000-meter-long pathway has been constructed from the road. It can also be reached by cable car.

This well-preserved section was built about 1,400 years ago and reconstructed later during the Ming Dynasty. History of Ming Military Affairs explains why it was rebuilt.

When Emperor Yongle returned north and reestablished Beijing as the capital, he was exposed to attack on three sides. Harassment increased after the reign of Emperor Zhengtong, so work was begun to strengthen and lengthen the wall at Yalu River in the east.

The strategic importance of Mutianyu was obvious, as many battles took place there. It is said that during the Three Kingdoms period when Cao Cao exterminated Yuan Shao's regime, his army advanced through Mutianyu. In the mid-Ming years, the noted General Qi Jiguang was transferred from the south. As Military Superintendent of Jizhen, he built observation towers and provided storage areas for military weapons.

The highest observation tower in the Mutianyu section is 540 meters above sea level. Crenels and shooting holes are part of the solid construction. To the east, the Great Wall continues across the mountain ridges, to the west, it enters a point of strategic importance at a peak 1,044 meters above sea level.

know India

The Republic of India, located in the south of Asia and comprising most of the Indian subcontinent, is the second most populous country in the world and is the world's largest democracy with over one billion people and more than one hundred distinct languages.
The Indian economy is the fourth-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity.
The name India is derived from Sindhu, the local name for the river Indus.
The country is called Bharat (pronounced as bhaarat; after the wise and pious King Bharata of ancient times) among Indians.
India borders Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan on land, with Sri Lanka and the Maldives just across the Indian mainland in the Indian Ocean.
Bharat Ganarajya National motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: Truth Alone Triumphs) Official language; Hindi (+17 other nat. lang.)
Capital; New Delhi Largest City; Mumbai (Bombay) President; APJ Abdul Kalam Prime Minister; Atal Behari Vajpayee Area; 3,287,590 km² Population; 1,049,700,118 Independence; - Date From the British Empire August 15, 1947 Currency; Indian Rupee (INR) Time zone; UTC +5.30 National anthem; Jana-Gana-Mana National song; Vande Mataram National game; Hockey? Cricket Internet TLD; .IN Phone Calling Code; 91
History
The Indus Valley civilisation (also called the Sindhu-Sarasvati Tradition) is one of the oldest cultural traditions in the world, that goes back to at least 3000 BC.
The rock art tradition of India has been traced to 40000 BC in the art in Bhimbetaka in Central India and other sites.
According to the Aryan invasion theory, Aryan tribes from the northwest of India invaded about 1500 BC, and their merger with the earlier inhabitants created the classical Vedic culture.
Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by incursions by European traders beginning in the late 15th century.
It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned Aryan Invasion Theory is now being widely challenged with the use of modern & scientific tools such as satellite imagery from NASA.
Events mentioned in the Vedic texts have been astronomically calculated to date back to the 5th millennium BC.
By subjugating the Mughal empire in the 19th century, the British Empire had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands.
Mostly non-violent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru led to independence in 1947.
The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan.
Pakistan occupied two non-contiguous areas, and a civil war between West and East Pakistan in 1971, in which India eventually intervened, resulted in the sedition of East Pakistan to form the separate nation of Bangladesh.
Fundamental concerns in India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output.
Politics
India is a Union of states with an increasingly federal structure.
Officially it is declared as The Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic of India.
India has as head of state a president, whose duties are largely ceremonial.
The president and vice president are elected indirectly for 5-year terms by a special electoral college.
Their terms are staggered, and the vice president does not automatically become president following the death or removal from office of the president.
Executive power is centred in the Council of Ministers (cabinet), led by the prime minister.
The president appoints the prime minister, who is designated by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding a parliamentary majority.
The president then appoints subordinate ministers on the advice of the prime minister.
India's bicameral parliament consists of the upper house called 'The Council of States' (Rajya Sabha) and the lower House called 'The House of the People' (Lok Sabha), both of which were established by the Constitution of India.
The Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha.
The legislatures of the states and union territories elect 233 members to the Rajya Sabha, and the president appoints another 12.
The elected members of the Rajya Sabha serve 6-year terms, with one-third up for election every 2 years.
The Lok Sabha consists of 545 members; 543 are directly elected to 5-year terms.
The other two are appointed by the president.
States and territories
India is subdivided into 28 states, 6 union territories and the national capital territory of Delhi:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
Geography

   
Located on the Indian subcontinent, India consists roughly of three major parts; in the north the massive Himalayas mountain range (with the highest point being the Kanchenjunga at 8,598 m) and the Indo-Gangetic plain (with deserts in the western end), and in the south the extensive Deccan plateau.
The latter is part of a large peninsula in between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west, with both being part of the greater Indian Ocean.
India is home to several major rivers such as the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari and the Krishna.
A small part of the upper course of the name-giving Indus lies within Indian territory.
The Indian climate varies from tropical monsoons in the south to more temperate climate in the north.
Economy
India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services, including software.
In fact, India's software exports alone are around $10 billion(2003).
However, a quarter of the population is still too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet.
India's international payments position remained strong in 2001 with adequate foreign exchange reserves, and moderately depreciating nominal exchange rates.
As measured by GDP in US Dollars, India's 2002 output of $481 billion ranked it 12th in the world.
As measured by GDP on Purchasing Power Parity basis, India's 2002 figure of $2.66 trillion makes it the fourth largest in the world.
Growth in manufacturing output has slowed, and electricity shortages continue in many regions.
India has large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language; India is a major exporter of software services and software workers.
Demographics
India is the second-most populous country in the world, with only China having a larger population.
Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse Indian population today.
Hindi, in the Devanagari script, is the only official federal language and individual states and territories have adopted 17 other co-official languages.
These are the Dravidian languages of Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu, and the Indo-Aryan languages of Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Nepali, Konkani and the classical language of Sanskrit.
Many other languages belonging to both groups are spoken as well.
English, though only an associate or 'link' language, is still widely in use in law and government, particularly in the higher echelons.
Although 83% of the people are Hindus, India is home to the world's second largest Muslim population.
Other smaller religious minorities include Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, jews and Parsis.
The caste system once reflected Indian occupational and religiously defined hierarchies.
Traditionally, there were four broad categories of castes (varnas), though they consisted of thousands of castes and subcastes, whose relative status varied from region to region.
The caste system was an important social factor for most Indians till the early 1900's.
The embracement of the lower castes into the mainstream community was brought about by Mahatma Gandhi who called them "Harijans" (people of God).
Presently, India has tough laws against discrimination on the basis of caste.
There is a policy for the socio-economic upliftment of the erstwhile lower castes, by the provision of free education till graduation, reservation of admission seats in institutions for higher education, a 50% quota in government jobs and faster promotions.
However, caste remains a significant factor in the political life of the country as well as in some social customs such as marriage.
Culture
Indian culture is an expression of the numerous and successive waves of influences in the subcontinent with the Northern part of India being subjected to this more than the South.
What follows constitutes just a small sample of a vast tradition.
In music, two important forms are the Carnatic and the Hindustani, the former from South India, a much purer form and the latter from North India deriving a lot from Muslim influences.
In literature, oral and written forms prevail.
Apart from the Vedas which are a sacred form of knowledge, there are other works such as the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharatha, treatises such as Vaastu Shastra in Architecture and Town planning and Artha Shastra in political science.
Urdu poetry is an example of a linguistic synthesis.
The literature of the Sangam period in Tamil is renowned.
Many dance forms exist in India - Bharata Natyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Kathakali, etc., mostly they have a narrative form, telling stories.
Other forms such as street theatre and puppetry are also found.
Festivals can also be included as part of Indian culture because they are a way of life in India.
There are many of them -Diwali, Vijayadasami, Pongal, etc., they are not only religion-based but also include those glorifying important stages in a person's life, seasonal cycles, etc.
Indian science was advanced in ancient times - Aryabhatta and Bhaskara were important scientists who studied planetary motion.
The Arabic numerals are actually an Indian contribution.
Traditional dresses in India include the Sari (Saree), Salwar Kameez, Dhoti and Kurta.
In cuisine, rice and wheat form the staple diet.
Some popular dishes include Thali- a full fledged meal, Dosa, Idli and Chapati.
Movies are an integral part of everyday life in India, most notably the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu for their commercial bases, and Bengali and Malayalam for its artistic leanings.
Though each region has a specific culture, in recent times there is a growing tendency to merge boundaries and imbibe aspects from other regions.
Also, with increasing globalization, and due to the liberalisation of the Indian economy in the early 90's, there has been influence of Western culture.
So there is Indi-pop in music , Hinglish or Tanglish- English flavoured with terms from local language used most prominently in fields such as advertising, pizzas with indigenous spices, experimental dance and theatre forms, and so on.
The invasion of cable TV has spawned an entirely new popular culture.
Apart from these historical and context specific forms, what an Indian sees as important in Indian culture are abstract qualities such as hospitality, family values, acceptance and toleration of differences, resilience and co-existence.
Sports
As far as sports are concerned, though not India's national sport, cricket is a very popular game today and India's size has made it the game's financial powerhouse.
Some other popular sports - hockey, tennis, chess. (Chess is supposed to have originated in India).
Some traditional indigenous games -kabaddi, gilli-danda.