Hj. Zulheimy Ma'amor: TRAVEL - THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

In the northern part of China, lies the Great Wall , spanning a total of 5,600 km, started from the bank of Yalu River in the east and meaders toward the Qilian and Tianshan Mountains in the west.

The American Astronaut Neil Armstrong who manned the spacecraft "Apollo 11" in 1969, said that the Great Wall in one of the two construction projects on earth that can been seen clearly from the space.

While the United Nations named it one of the world "Cultural Heritage" in 1987, the imposing Great Wall has long been the symbol and soul of China.

Several walls were built from as early as the 7th century BC by Qin Shi Huang (220 - 206 BC) , the first emperor of China. The best known section of the wall were built by the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).

JUYONG PASS

Juyong Pass in Changping County is more than 50 km from downtown Beijing. Situated in a ravine hemmed in between 2 mountains, it provides impregnable protection to in northwest Beijing.

One of the "Eight Sights in Yanjing" known as "Piled Greens at Juyongguan"

Juyongguan Greatwall

Inside the Juyong Pass remains the platform of a Yuan Dynasty pagoda that used to sit astride a street.

THE GREAT WALL AT BADALING

The Great Wall @ Badaling is the best preserved part of the Great Wall. It is 7.8 meters high, 6.5 meters thick and 5.8 meters wide on the top. Badaling is the first section of the Great Wall opened to tourists.

The rich cultural heritage mingles with natural beauty at Badaling, situated north of Juyong pass and 60 km from Beijing.

SIMATAI SECTION

Simatai Section of the Great Wall are the sights of Simatai, which is poised on the brow of a razor-sharp cliff, and narrows fown to a mere 40 milinetres centimetres at a place known as "Heavenly Bridge". The "Sky Ladder" leans against a mountain slope with a 90 degree gradient.

Wanjinglou Tower at a height of 986 m above the sea level, the tower forms the summit of the Simatai Section of the Great Wall. Mounting the tower at night one can see lights shimmering faintly in downtown Beijing.

JINSHANLING GREAT WALL

The Great Wall at Jinshanling runs through mountain peaks for 7.5 km from Gubeikou Pass.