Sizing Up the Great Wall
Almost too big to comprehend, the 4,500-mile wall has a lore of its own
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian magazine, January 2008, Subscribe
At Simatai, a two-hour drive from Beijing, there's an access point to the Great Wall, in north Miyun County. Three years ago, I hiked a dirt trail from this site's long-deserted turnstile entrance and scaled the wall's steep, crumbling steps. I felt I was conquering, not climbing, the Great Wall.
In the absence of known facts, many legends have buttressed the wall's lore. "The myths show that the earliest viewers of the wall from Europe [in the 1700s] really grappled with words to describe the immensity of the structure they saw," says William Lindesay, director of the International Friends of the Great Wall. "It was soon realized that there was no single summit from which viewers could survey the entire wall, hence imagination took to speculation." In the years that followed, the wall's length was estimated to be anywhere from about 1,500 to 31,250 miles. But the structure is actually multiple walls—dating from the 7th century B.C. to the 17th century A.D.—some of which are only now being surveyed. Current estimates place its length, with all the branches and sections, at 4,500 miles.
As the sun rose after a sleepless night at Simatai, I went from feeling like a big, bad adventurer to a blip in the wall's dark shadow. "It's the collective work of perhaps hundreds of millions of laborers," says Lindesay, who has trekked some 1,500 miles of it. "And it will probably never be surpassed in scale."
Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.
Related topics: Travel China Historic and Cultural Monuments
| Tweet | Digg |
Comments (1)
im looking to walk/run the whole wall i need info on how to get food on the wall or villages and how bad are the brokin parts if u have this info please rite
Posted by Thomas moore on September 29,2008 | 03:14 PM
I left for my 17 hour flight to Beijing on September 18, 2001, a week after the towers fell in NYC. All I knew was that it had taken me 9 months to plan & prepare for this trip of a lifetime & I intended to enjoy my full 6 weeks in China. I spent 1 of my 3 days in Beijing walking first one way (until the steps got as high as I was tall) then back the other way, past the gate I had entered & as far as my tired legs would let me climb up the inclined ramp on the other side of the gate. I didn't get more than 1/4 mile that way. My guide took pity on me, so we stopped for lunch, then he took me to the Imperial Palace where things are more level & peaceful. I also was in Tianneman Square, to see all the massive statues. I now have dropfoot so could not possibly do all the walking that I did back then. It was truly a wonderful experience. I would encourage anyone who can to visit the ancient temples, gardens & tombs in China. The Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian are really impressive, as are the temples in the Great Gorge along the Yantgze.
Posted by Cyd on March 11,2008 | 09:31 PM
It is obvviously immense. How much can one see of it? I would like to go but I cannot walk except with a cane, SO I COULD PROBABLY NOT SEE MUCH OF IT! Thanks for showing it, I always wondered how long it was,--amazing. Thanks, Lon F. Davis
Posted by Lon F. Davis on January 17,2008 | 12:32 PM