Great Wall – Green View Postcard

Great Wall – Green View was taken in Mutianyu, China. The Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest and best fully-restored Great Wall section. With the greens of pines and cypresses covering the surrounding area, the scenery there is beautiful all the year-round. The natural scenery seen from Mutianyu varies all year around. In autumn, the surroundings look like a golden sea. The Great Wall is Chinese people's greatest cultural icon. The Great Wall is not a single-structured wall, it includes beacon towers, barriers, barracks, garrison stations, and fortresses along the walls, together forming an integrated defence system. The Great Wall is the product of countless labours over a period of 2,000 years, and is a feast of engineering. It also reflected the collision and exchanges between the agricultural and nomadic civilisations. The Great Wall is the largest man-made building in the world. The complete route is over 20000 km, stretching from the east seaside to the west desert in northern China, winding up and down across mountains and plateaus like a dragon. The one thing most people “know” about the Great Wall of China—that it is one of the only man-made structures visible from space—is not actually true. Since the wall looks a lot like the stone and soil that surround it, it is difficult to discern with the human eye even from low Earth orbit, and is difficult to make out in most orbital photos. However, this does not detract from the wonder of this astounding ancient structure.