The new Manchu dynasty tried something different with their neighbors, diplomacy. Here in their lovely Summer Palace, they greeted delegations from all over the Eastern world. Attendance was compulsor...
The tombs all followed the same basic design, a temple in front and a walled enclosure with the underground tomb behind. Because Wanli(万历) ruled for so long, he constructed a huge tomb. And in 195...
Here on a steep slope, defensive walls rise in steps up to the watchtower. So if the enemy did make it to the top of the wall, the crucial watchtowers could be fiercely defended. The watchtowers thems...
With the Mongols expelled, the new rulers, the Ming emperors, were determined that an invasion would never happen again. And so in 1368, when Europe was being decimated by the Black Plague(黑死病, 鼠...
In summer, dried-up river valleys offered easy invasion routes for horsemen bent on sacking the rich Chinese towns of the plains. And this is why these passes were heavily fortified, even though they...
The Tang(唐) armies controlled vast areas on both sides of the Great Wall. So it was no longer needed as a defense and it fell into ruin. To maintain order in the steppes, the Tang preferred to make...
So when they left the sheltering walls of Dunhuang(敦煌), heading for the desert that local people referred to as "go in and you will not come out". They knew they had a little extra spiritual prote...
And many never returned home, ending up in graveyards like this one. Large tombs for generals, small ones for the soldiers, and all of them died defending the Great Wall. But the soldiers' misery did...
It is a staggering 2,700 miles longer than the first Great Wall of the Emperor Qin. There is no wood, water or stone in the desert. But the Han managed to build a wall that has resisted 2,000 years of...
In the heart of a harsh winter, Meng Jiangnu(孟姜女) decided to visit her husband who had been sent to work on the construction of the wall. Bringing warm clothes for her beloved husband, she went...
