MUMBLINGS October 12, 2006

It is a difficult job trying to decide which is one of the ten most interesting sites visited in the world. This is particularly true when I have been fortunate enough to have visited every state in the United States and 100 countries worldwide.

After long consideration, I listed the 11 greatest wonders of the world, but they were not necessarily the most enjoyable trips or sites seen. For example, the inside passage from Seattle, Washington to Alaska and return was very enlightening, but nothing to indicate one of the great wonders of the world. Of course, to me the mighty glaciers, which are frozen rivers inching along, could be considered one of the wonders of the world, but there are many of them throughout the universe.

So, most enjoyable was the Scandinavian Countries (Sweden, Norway & Denmark) with the mighty gourds in Norway where ships could go back into the mountains and see beautiful scenery and dozens of waterfalls. Several other sites can and will be named sooner or later, hopefully. In the meantime, lets proceed with one of the ten. You may remember recently we talked to you about the Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Nile River, etc. It was certainly a wonderful trip and also one of the great wonders of the world.

The same thing can be said about the Great Wall of China. Not only one of the great wonders of the world but an interesting site to behold. Artistically, the Great Wall is nothing to compare to the Egyptian Pyramids but in size, length and construction, they are well worth seeing, and of course most interesting.

The Wall was first built between 770-476 B.C. and was the result of the knowledge of the Chinese working people in ancient times.

It was a military project built by small kingdoms for holding back Nomadic tribes coming from the north, as well as protection against each other.

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After unifying six states in northern China in 221 B.C., the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty issued an order that the walls originally built be reinforced and linked together for defense against attack by the slave-owner regime in the northern part of China. This is how the well-known 3,600-mile Great Wall came into being and has played a significant role in protecting the economic and cultural developments in the central plain area for some 2,000 years.

As you can imagine, the Great Wall has been restored and re-inforced during successive dynasties, most during the Ming Dynasty. This dynasty devoted huge amounts of manpower and resources to the restoration project, taking a total of over 100 years to complete.

Some of the stone slabs in the wall, which are made from local materials, are as heavy as one ton. Considering the condition of the time, you can imagine how extremely difficult the project was.

Because of the high quality of its construction, most of the Great Wall built during this time still stands.

The section at Badaling, restored in 1957 for visitors, is typical in structure of what the entire wall once was. It has an average height of 26 feet, is 22 feet wide at the bottom and 19 feet wide at the top.

Every 200 -350 yards, battlements were built for watching and shooting. The guardhouses built at intervals were used as sentry posts and headquarters for soldiers. Beacon towers were built at commanding points at each side of the wall, with smoke used in the daytime and fire at night, in case of emergency.

The Great Wall is also wide enough to permit two automobiles to pass on it at one time. The project is so huge that astronauts can see it from miles up.

See you again soon, I hope.