TheGreatWallofChina,alsoknowninChinaastheGreatWallof10,000,isanancientChinesefortificationbuiltfromtheendofthe14thcenturyuntilthebeginningofthe17thcentury,duringtheMingDynasty,inordertoprotectChinafromraidsbytheMongolsandTurkictribes.Itwasprecededbyseveralwallsbuiltsincethe3rdcenturyBCagainsttheraidsofnomadictribescomingfromareasnowinmoderndayMongoliaandManchuria.TheWallstretchesoveraformidable6,350km(3,946miles),fromShanhaiPassontheBohaiGulfintheeast,atthelimitbetweenChinaproperandManchuria,toLopNurinthesoutheasternportionofXinjiangUygurAutonomousRegion.

　　ThefirstmajorwallwasbuiltduringthereignoftheFirstEmperor,themainemperoroftheshort-livedQindynasty.Thiswallwasnotconstructedasasingleendeavor,butratherwascreatedbythejoiningofseveralregionalwallsbuiltbytheWarringStates.ItwaslocatedmuchfurthernorththanthecurrentGreatWall,andverylittleremainsofit.AdefensivewallonthenorthernborderwasbuiltandmaintainedbyseveraldynastiesatdifferenttimesinChinesehistory.TheGreatWallthatcanstillbeseentodaywasbuiltduringtheMingDynasty,onamuchlargerscaleandwithlongerlastingmaterials(solidstoneusedforthesidesandthetopoftheWall)thananywallthathadbeenbuiltbefore.Theprimarypurposeofthewallwasnottokeepoutpeople,whocouldscalethewall,buttoinsurethatsemi-nomadicpeopleontheoutsideofthewallcouldnotcrosswiththeirhorsesorreturneasilywithstolenproperty.