INDICE>CINA TOUR>BEIJING>GRANDE
MURAGLIA
Beijing
Piazza Tian'anmen - Palazzo Imperiale - Tempio del Cielo
Tempio dei Lama - Palazzo
d'Estate - Tombe Ming - Grande Muraglia
Le Colline Profumate
![hline1.gif (479 byte)](../../hline1.gif)
La
Grande Muraglia (Changcheng)
La Wanli changcheng, da noi nota come la Grande Muraglia. La
traduzione del nome cinese è "il lungo muro di 10.000 li". Il li è una misura
di lunghezza cinese equivalente a 500 m. In realtà la somma dei tratti di muraglia è
più lunga, arrivando a 5760 km.
Il tratto generalmente visitato dai turisti è
quello del Passo di Badaling, restaurato in tempi relativamente recenti, a cui si accede
su strada asfaltata o con ferrovia. Fu costruita sotto Qin Shihuangdi (l'unificatore della
Cina) a partire dal 220 a.C., ma la costruzione dei primi elementi risale all'epoca dei
Regni Combattenti (VII-VI sec. a.C.). All'edificazione vi hanno preso parte 300.000 uomini
per 10 anni. Ha un'altezza media di 7-8 m, una larghezza di 6,5 alla base e 5,5 m alla
sommità; una torre ogni 200-300 m, un parapetto semplice verso sud e merlato verso nord,
un percorso di varia ripidità e spesso interrotto da scarpate e da scale irregolari,
protetto da un lastricato di grossi blocchi di pietra. La spiegazione corrente è che essa
fu innalzata per contenere i barbari delle steppe mongoliche. Ma quest'enorme serpente
archiettonico è stato principalmente concepito e realizzato per proteggere la
coltivazione dei campi dalle incursioni delle genti nomadi delle steppe. Svolse anche una
funzione civilizzatrice, in quanto esigeva lo stanziamento di decine di migliaia di operai
e di militari ai confini delle regioni tradizionali; provocava il contatto di popolazioni
molto diverse e ne catalizzava l'attenzione e l'interesse. Infine fu una via di
comunicazione scorrevole perché lastricata, sicura perché sempre protetta dai soldati
(di notizie e di mezzi di trasporto) perché, data la sua larghezza, era stato possibile
adattare, in cima, una piattaforma stradale percorribile.
Badaling Great Wall
Badaling Great Wall, is located more than 70 kilometers northwest from the
center of Beijing City, with more than 1000 meters above sea level, occupies a
commanding and strategic position. Badaling is the best-preserved section of the
Beijing Great Wall. 370 foreign leaders and very important persons have come to
climb Badaling successively. It is a defensive outpost of the Great Wall. It is
called "Bada" as it stretches in all directions.
Badaling Great wall was built in the 18th year of the Ming Hong Zhi reign
(1505). The wall, built with high stone slabs on the outside, is 7.8 meters high
on the average, some even reaches 8.4meters. The base of the wall was built with
more than 2000 large rectangular slab of granite stones. It is about 6.5 meters
wide on the average at its base and 5.7 meters wide on the average on the
ramparts. The wall is wide enough for five horses to gallop abreast and ten
people to advance shoulder to shoulder. The outside of the wall is called
rampart wall. The rampart wall was built with bricks 1.7 meters high. Built for
the purpose of defense, there are holes on the tip of the wall called
watch-hole, and peepholes under the wall called embrasures. Inside of the wall,
there are low walls with one meter high called parapets, which can be used as
railings. There is a scroll door not far from the inside wall, with is a stone
ladder for climbing up and down. The wall is narrow on the top and broad on the
bottom forming an adder-shape structure. This made the wall stands firmly on the
rise and fall ridges. The wall was built with 10-14 rectangular slab of stones
surrounding its outside, filled with soilsand stones in the middle, and paved
with square bricks on the top between the bricks were stuck with lime stones.
This makes the wall tidy, beautiful, and firm. There are gutters with gargoyles
to drain rain-water off the parapet wall.
The landscape of Badaling Great Wall changes every season, with numerous
scenery to catch your attention. A sunlit and enchanting scene of spring, with
the valley covered with greens. When the rain from mountain comes, the vista
will look vast and hazy. The sky in autumn is high with unsoiled stratosphere,
while the maple forest is dyed in golden colour. White snow covers the whole
scene in winter.
Travel Tips
Recommended Time for a Visit: Two and a
half hours.
How to get there: Take Bus919. Or take tourist bus No. 1 at
Front Gate, No. 2 at Beijing Railway Station, the west gate of Beijing History
Museum, No. 3 at East Bridge, No. 4 at Xizhi Gate or Beijing Zoo, No.5 from the
west Taxi station at the Front Gate, No.8 from AnDingmen or Qianmen station
Hints: You'd better consult clearly before going there in the
peak season or holidays, sometimes visitors are caught with chaff to be guided
to the Shuiguan not Badaling section for the addmission fee is different.
Mutianyu Great Wall
Mutianyu is located in HuairouCounty, Beijing which successfully
hosted the NGO Tribune of the United Nation's Fourth World Conference on Women
in 1995. Northern Qi (550-577) started to construct a wall here. During the Ming
Hong.
Wu reign (1368-1398), General Xu Da built the Great Wall on its foundation.
The MutianyuPass was erected in 1404 (the 2nd year of the Ming Yong Le reign).
Construction continued when General Qi Jiguang was transferrel to Jizhou to
command the garrison area in 1568 (the 2nd year of the Long Qing reign). Click Here to Search
a Great Wall Tour >>
The fortifications and the Great Wall here are characterized by many
watchtowers on overlapping mountain ranges. The wall, built with slabs of stone,
is crenellated on both sides with bricks. Horsetrapping snares outside the wall
offer better protection and ward off attacks. With Juyongguan in the west and
Gubeikou in the east.
Mutianyu serves as the northern barrier defending the capital and the
imperial tombs. With vegetation, green pines and cypresses covering 90 per cent
of the area, the sceneries here are beautiful all the year round.
Opening Hours: 07:30 to 17:20
Recommended Time for a Visit: Two and a half hours
How to get there: Take Bus no 916 or take tourist Bus No. 6 at
Xuanwumen Gate
Jinshanling Great
Wall
Jinshanling is 140 kilometers at the north-east
end of Beijing City, there is a section of the Great Wall, called Jinshanling
Great Wall. It is 90 kilometers to the Mountain Resort of Chengde. A tablet with
the Chinese inscription of "Jinshanling Great Wall" was set in this
section.
On the right is the full view of the
Jinshanling Great Wall. Its east end connects to the Simatai Great Wall.
Jinshangling Great Wall got its name because it was built on the bigger and the
smaller Jinshan Mountains.
The Jinshanling Great Wall was initially built
from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty, and in 1567 or 1570 rebuilding of the
Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang. Poems and tablet writings can be
found on the Jinshanling Great Wall left from the time Qi Jiguang directed
building of this section of the Great Wall.
The total length of this section is about
eleven kilometers (6.8 miles), and the scenic spot of the Jinshanling Great Wall
has an area of 32 square kilometers. The Wall is about seven to eight meters
high and five to six meters wide, which is made of brick and stone. The
Jinshanling Great Wall has an elevation of 700 meters. Watching Beijing Tower is
on the highest position, from which you can see Beijing. The Jinshanling Great
Wall is second only to the Badaling Great Wall in its completeness.
There are more than 100 enemy towers along the
whole Jinshanling Great Wall. Built stably and elegantly, different towers have
different structures and appearances. Rows of 3-meter-high Barrier Walls were
built leading to the enemy towers to protect the towers. Some of the towers are
storerooms as well. They were used to store food, hay and weapons.
Two of so many enemy towers are bigger Jinshan
and smaller Jinshan. There is a legend about them. It was said that the two
towers were built by 3000 soldiers from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces led
northward by Qi Jiguang. In order to remind themselves of their hometowns, the
names of bigger and smaller JinshanIslands in ZhenjiangCity, which is in
JiangsuProvince, were used to name the two enemy towers.
As there are relatively few tourists at
Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot.
In early mornings of spring and summer you can
see a remarkable view - "CloudSea" below you from the Wall.
The Jinshanling Great Wall has never been
repaired. You are safer when you visit this section of the Great Wall than other
parts. It is safer as the service in this section of Great Wall includes that
one tour guide is responsible for one tourist, for his/her safety actually. When
needed, the tour guides will go hand in hand to protect the tourists.
An 800-meter long cable was built to entertain
the tourists. Also a 3-kilometer section of the Wall was rebuilt and is bathed
after dark in colored light, making a splendid "Night Great Wall".
Opening Hours: 08:00 to 16:50
Recommended Time for a Visit: Two hours
Simatai Great Wall
The Simatai section of the Great Wall, not far from the Gubeikou section, is
located at GubeikouTown in the northeast of MiyunCounty, Beijing, 120 kilometers from
the city center. Its construction started in the early Hongwu years (1368-1398)
of the Ming Dynasty. Like most sections of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall often
visited today, this section was also built under the supervision of General Qi
Jiguang.
The Simatai Great Wall is 5.4 km long with all together 35 watchtowers. As
the east section of the Gubeikou defense line, this magnificent section features
great strategic significance. Built hundreds of years ago, the Simatai Great
Wall still retains all its original appearance. It not only incorporates a
variety of styles of other parts of the 10, 000-li-long wall, but also displays
some unique characteristics. This section of the Great Wall is often described
with the following five words: perilous, dense, diverse, ingenuous, and
peculiar.
In the valley, the Simatai Great Wall is separated into two parts by the
Simatai Reservoir, over which a chain bridge runs through east to west. Like two
huge golden dragons, the two parts of the Great Wall wind down from the east and
west mountains into the reservoir, forming a wonderful reflection of the
magnificent Great Wall in the clear blue water.
The Simatai Great Wall, with densely-dispersed watchtowers snaking along the
mountain ridges, looks spectacular. On the hills with gentle slopes in the west,
twenty watchtowers are well preserved. However, the west part of Simatai, where
fifteen watchtowers densely cover the mountain peaks almost one thousand meters
high, appears to be more breathtaking.
The watchtowers on the Simatai Great Wall exhibit a refined design and
various structures, among which the most celebrated are the Wangjinglou(Watching
Beijing Tower), where one can enjoy lights of Beijing at night in the distance,
and Xiannulou (Angel's Tower), which is characterized by its exquisite
structure,with no reference concerning its name origin.
Along the Simatai Great Wall one can also find a section laid with bricks
carrying inscriptions, such as "Made by Qiangzi Camp","Made by
the left camp of Shandong in the 6th year of the Wanli reign" and
"Made by the infantry camp of suppressing enemy troops in the 6th year of
the Wanli reign". These messages not only record their origin, but also the
period of time they were written.
With its fantastic scenery and precipitous topography, the Simatai Great Wall
is a remarkable place for sightseeing, hiking and exploration. It has been
acknowledged by the UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritages.
Opening Hours: 08:00 to 16:50
Recommended Time for a Visit: Two hours
How to get there: Take bus No.12 from Xuan Wu Gate directly to
Simatai.
Hints: Private tour to Simatai is available. Contact us for
more information.
Simatai section. Molte
fotografie. http://www.kinabaloo.com/simatai_great_wall.html |