The Terracotta Army

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province
by a group of farmers when they were digging a water well around 1.6 km (1 mile) east of the Qin
Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and
watercourses. For centuries, there had been occasional reports of pieces of terracotta figures and
fragments of the Qin necropolis roofing tiles, bricks, and chunks of masonry having been dug up in
the area. This most recent discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, and they
unearthed the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.

Forbidden City
the Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the
Qing Dynasty. It is located in the centre of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum.
For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the
ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2
(7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and
has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The
Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the
largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose
extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming
and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace
Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the
Chinese. The site of the Forbidden City was situated on the Imperial City during the Mongol
Yuan Dynasty. Upon the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor moved the
capital from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the south, and ordered that the Yuan palaces be
burnt down. When his son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital back to
Beijing, and construction began in 1406 of what would become the Forbidden City

Construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers

The Forbidden City is a rectangle, measuring 961 metres (3,153 ft) from north to south
and 753 metres (2,470 ft) from east to west. It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886
bays of rooms; however this figure may not include various antechambers. Another common
figure points to 9,999 rooms including antechambers;[31] although this number is frequently cited,
it is likely an oral tradition, and it is not supported by survey evidence.[32] The Forbidden City
was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger,
walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to
its south lies the Outer City.

The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. The central north-south
axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate
to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to
Yongdingmen. To the north, it extends through Jingshan Hill to the Bell and Drum Towers.[33]
This axis is not exactly aligned north-south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees.
Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan Dynasty to be aligned with
Xanadu, the other capital of their empire.

Great Wall of China

the Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth,
wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical
northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against
intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces.
Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC;[3] these, later joined together and
made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.[4] Especially
famous is the wall built between 220206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.
Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained,
and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of
duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the
control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great
Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations,
signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great
Wall also served as a transportation corridor.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that
roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological
survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km
(5,500 mi).[5] This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of
trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.[5] Another
archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be
21,196 km (13,171 mi).[6]

The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the
Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries BC.[7] During this time and the
subsequent Warring States period, the states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan[8][9] all
constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of
small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and
gravel between board frames.

Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin
Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he
ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state
borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he
ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new
northern frontier. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was
difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used
over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no
surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls.
Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain
today. The human cost of the construction is unknown, but it has been estimated by some authors
that hundreds of thousands,[10] if not up to a million, workers died building the Qin wall.[11][12]
Later, the Han,[13] Sui, and Northern dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the
Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.[14] The Tang and Song
Dynasties did not build any walls in the region.[14] The Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, who ruled
Northern China throughout most of the 10th13th centuries, had their original power bases north
of the Great Wall proper. Accordingly, they would have no need throughout most of their history
to build a wall along this line. The Liao carried out limited repair of the Great Wall in a few
areas,[15] however the Jin did construct defensive walls in the 12th century, but those were
located much to the north of the Great Wall as we know it, within today's Inner and Outer
Mongolia.[14][16]
Ming era

The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century,[17] and
following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu. The Ming had failed to
gain a clear upper hand over the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and
the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to
keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China.
Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the
desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Huang He.

Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due
to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. Up to 25,000 watchtowers are estimated
to have been constructed on the wall.[18] As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years,
the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the
Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.[19] Qi Jiguang between 1567 and 1570 also
repaired and reinforced the wall, faced sections of the ram-earth wall with bricks and constructed
1,200 watchtowers from Shanhaiguan Pass to Changping to warn of approaching Mongol
raiders.[20] During the 1440s1460s, the Ming also built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in
function to the Great Wall (whose extension, in a sense, it was), but more basic in construction,
the Liaodong Wall enclosed the agricultural heartland of the Liaodong province, protecting it
against potential incursions by Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou
Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall,
most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.[21]

Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the
Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Even after the loss of all of Liaodong, the Ming army
under the command of Yuan Chonghuan held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified
Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus
were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, after Beijing had fallen to Li Zicheng's rebels.
The gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by the commanding Ming general Wu Sangui on May 25
who formed an alliance with the Manchus, hoping to use the Manchus to expel the rebels from
Beijing.[22] On 26 May 1644, Wu ordered his soldiers to wear a white cloth attached to their
armor, to distinguish them from Li Zicheng's forces.[23] The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and
defeated both the rebel-founded Shun Dynasty and the remaining Ming resistance, establishing
the Qing Dynasty rule over all of China.[23]

In 2009, an additional 290 km (180 mi) of previously undetected portions of the wall, built
during the Ming Dynasty, were discovered. The newly discovered sections range from the
Hushan mountains in the northern Liaoning province, to Jiayuguan in western Gansu province.
The sections had been submerged over time by sandstorms which moved across the arid
region.[24]

Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the
empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued. On the other hand, the
so-called Willow Palisade, following a line similar to that of the Ming Liaodong Wall, was
constructed by the Qing rulers in Manchuria. Its purpose, however, was not defense but rather
migration control.

Condition

While some portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even
extensively renovated, in many locations the Wall is in disrepair. Those parts might serve as a
village playground or a source of stones to rebuild houses and roads.[33] Sections of the Wall are
also prone to graffiti and vandalism. Parts have been destroyed because the Wall is in the way of
construction.[34]

More than 60 km (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due
to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than
5 metres (16 feet) to less than 2 metres (6.6 ft). The square lookout towers that characterize the
most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall
are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to
erosion.[35] In August 2012, a 30 metre section of the wall in north China's Hebei province
collapsed after days of continuous heavy rains.[36]

Some of the following sections are in Beijing municipality, which were renovated and which are
regularly visited by tourists today.

"North Pass" of Juyongguan pass, known as the Badaling. When used by the Chinese to
protect their land, this section of the wall had many guards to defend Chinas capital
Beijing. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall is 7.8
meters (26 ft) high and 5 meters (16 ft) wide.
"West Pass" of Jiayuguan (pass). This fort is near the western edges of the Great Wall.
"Pass" of Shanhaiguan. This fort is near the eastern edges of the Great Wall.
One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely
steep slopes. It runs 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) long, ranges from 5 to 8 meters (1626 ft) in
height, and 6 meters (20 ft) across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 meters (16 ft) across the
top. Wangjinglou is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers, 980 meters (3,220 ft) above sea
level.
South East of Jinshanling, is the Mutianyu Great Wall which winds along lofty, cragged
mountains from the southeast to the northwest for approximately 2.25 kilometers (about
1.3 miles). It is connected with Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to the east.
This section was one of the first to be renovated following the turmoil of the Cultural
Revolution.[30]
25 km (16 mi) west of the Liao Tian Ling stands a part of the Great Wall which is only
23 stories high. According to the records of Lin Tian, the wall was not only extremely
 short compared to others, but it appears to be silver. Archeologists explain that the wall
appears to be silver because the stone they used were from Shan Xi, where many mines
are found. The stone contains extremely high levels of metal in it causing it to appear
silver. However, due to years of decay of the Great Wall, it is hard to see the silver part of
the wall today.

Another notable section lies near the eastern extremity of the wall, where the first pass of the
Great Wall was built on the Shanhaiguan (known as the Number One Pass Under Heaven).
3 km north of Shanhaiguan is Jiaoshan Great Wall, the site of the first mountain of the Great
Wall.[31] 15 km northeast from Shanhaiguan, is the Jiumenkou, which is the only portion of the
wall that was built as a bridge.