Gansu Province is one of the provinces which have the most sections of the Great Wall. Recent research shows that the walls built in Gansu are mainly the relics of four dynasties: Warring Periods, Qin, Han and Ming. The total length reaches 2,734 miles, which is indispensable to the study of the Great Wall of China and the history, geography and culture of western areas in China.
The construction of the Great Wall in Gansu follows the principle of using local materials. In the northeast mountainous areas, the wall was built from the local large pieces of stone or bricks, which couldn't be obtained in the dry western Loess Plateau and desert belt. The clever ancient laboring people built the wall by ramming the earth as solid as stones. This dense earth made the body of the wall difficult to deform and split. Jiayuguan Pass is a typical example built in this way. In the desert area, people created the wall by laying local branches of red willow, reeds and sand layer upon layer. Yumenguan Pass and Yangguan Pass are relics of this kind.
The present state of the Gansu Great Wall is the result of using compacted earth; hundreds of years have not been kind to this ancient section. One third of the section is basically complete, one third is broken and the rest is disappearing. The wall in Gansu is not an exception. It is suffering from both natural disasters and human intervention. The natural factors include wind erosion, floods, heavy rains and earthquake. Human activities are even more destructive. Ever ready to innovate and use their surroundings, local people have used parts of the wall in order to build railways, highroads and houses. In Gansu, the valuable wall relic built during Warring States is only half of the original 373 miles. The Great Wall of Han Dynasty is only left 621 miles compared to the original 1,367 miles and 621 miles of the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty can be seen from the original 870 miles.
Related Link: Gansu Travel Guide
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Q & A on Great Wall in Gansu
1.
Oct. 26,2009 11:27 Reply
Mr.ha(saio) said:
what are the main sectipons of the great walll in bejin
Oct. 26,2009 20:06
Mr.Lin replied:
The main sections of the great wall in beijing include Badaling, Mutianyu, Jinshanling, Simatai and Jiankou.
2.
Oct. 8,2009 16:46 Reply
Ms.helpplzz(idkkk) said:
what is diferent bout this secion andand why was an actual all unnecary at thos sektion
Oct. 8,2009 19:55
Ms.Lynn replied:
Great Wall in Gansu Province was mainly built in desert and was made of the mixture of sands and local plants. Gansu Great Wall is very important as it held the western gate of China in Han and Ming dynasties.
3.
Mar. 30,2009 18:56 Reply
Mr.window(New Zealand) said:
where is the great wall of china located
Mar. 31,2009 04:26
Mr.Rudolph replied:
In nine cities and provinces, from Shanhaiguan Pass in the east and ends at Jiayuguan Pass in the west, crossing Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu.
4.
Mar. 31,2009 00:33 Reply
Mr.Ashfaq(Ahmed) said:
is the tribes in ancient times. are there now
Mar. 31,2009 04:21
Mr.Elmer replied:
Perhaps not, the tribes living in long long ago, and melted with other ethnic people later.
5.
Mar. 30,2009 17:58 Reply
Mr.cao(canada) said:
do you have more facts about the great wall?I am doing a porject e-mail me.