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thegreatwallofchinaiscalledthe"tenthousandiigreatwall"inchinese.infact,it'smorethan6000kilometreslong.itwindsitswayfromwesttoeast,acrossdeserts,overmountains,throughvalleystillatlastitreachesthesea.itisoneofthewondersoftheworld.
thegreatwallhasahistoryofovertwentycenturies.thefirstpartofitwasbuiltduringthespringandautumnperiod.duringthewarringstatesperiod,morewallswereputuptodefendthebordersofthedifferentkingdoms.itwasduringtheqindynastythatthekingdomofqinunitedthedifferentpartsintooneempire.tokeeptheenemyoutofhisempire,emperorqinshihuanghadallthewallsjoinedup.thus,thegreatwallcameintobeing.
thegreatwalliswideenoughatthetopforfivehorsesortenmentowalksidebyside.alongthewallarewatchtowers,wheresoldiersusedtokeepwatch.fireswerelitonthethetowersasawarningwhentheenemycame.
itwasverydifficulttobuildsuchawallintheancientdayswithoutanymodernmachines.alltheworkwasdonebyhand.thousandsofmendiedandwereburiedunderthewalltheybuilt.thegreatwallwasmadenotonlyofstoneandearth,butofthefleshandbloodofmillionsofmen.
todaythegreatwallhasbeeaplaceofinterestnotonlytothechinesebuttopeoplefromallovertheworld.manyofthemhaveetoknowthefamouschinesesaying:"hewhodoesnotreachthegreatwallisnotatrueman."