the great wall was renovated from time to time after the qin dynasty. a major renovation started with the founding of the ming dynasty in 1368, and took 200 years to complete. the wall we see today is almost exactly the result of this effort. with a total length of over 6,000 kilometers, 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. what lies north of beijing is but a small section of it.

a map of the great wall

the map shows the wall running from jiayu pass of gansu province to shanhai pass of hebei province. representative sections of the great wall built in ming times are situated near shanhai pass, gubeikou and juyong pass.

badaling section

the badaling section of the great wall snaking along the mountains northwest of beijing was built at the beginning of the ming dynasty in the 14th century. being 7.8 metres high and 5.8 metres wide at the top on the average, it has battle forts at important points, including the corners.

located 10 kilometers south of the badaling section of the great wall and built in an 18.5-kilometre-long valley, the pass has always been an important gateway northwest of beijing. the name is believed to have its origin in the workers and slaves conscripted to build the great wall in ancient times. cloud terrace, built in 1345, was originally the base of a pagoda over looking the main road of the town of the pass. the arched gate of the terrace and the walls inside the arch are decorated with carvings. of elephants, lions, birds, flowers and heavenly kings as well as charms in six languages-sanskrit, tibetan, phats pa (mongolian), uygur, west xia and han.

mutianyu section