Great Wall of China (Lim Jia Yi)

The Great Wall is a powerful symbol. It represents the unification of China, because it was linked together as China was unified for the first time in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It represents the ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country.

Many legends and myths exist regarding the building of this wall. Some of the famous stories are as follows:

The Legend of Meng Jiangnü

This is a legend about love and devotion. It tells the story of Meng Jiangnü and her anguish after her husband died building the wall. It is said that her bitter weeping caused a section of the wall to collapse.

"Metal Soup" Great Wall

This story tells of the construction of the Huanghuacheng Great Wall. The great general who masterminded this section was beheaded wrongly for his high expenditures, but later redeemed and honored.

Xifengkou / Happy Meeting Mouth

A story of love between father and son and their reunion at Xifengkou. 

The great wall's chinese culture reflects from when Shi Huangdi was ruler, who started the Great Wall from the Yellow Sea in the east to the Gobi Desert in the West. 

The Great wall was also first come together from smaller walls to discourage attacks from nothern nomads. Thus Shi Huangdi was determined to close up the gaps and unify the wall 1,400 miles to the west. His thinking at the time was so if enemies decided to come they would have to gallop halfway to Tibet to get around it. 

He forced peasents to build the wall. If they did not, their only choice other than building the wall was death. Many of them worked on the wall and still died anyway. They did not work for wages, and really did not love the empire. 

Now, since the Great wall is so Huge, that it is one of the few human-made features on Earth visible from space. 

Chinese may proudly to say that “ Great Wall in China is the only manmade structure visible from the moon!” Actually, the Great Wall is the irreplaceable monument in the China. Moreover its representative of the cultural meaning is shown in the national anthem, one part of the lyrics “who will not be slaves our own flesh and blood, to build a new Great Wall!” 

From past until now, Great Wall is the representative of the Chinese people. Nowadays, China starts to break- down the old regulations and open the door to face the outside world. Therefore, people in China are facing the new identity which is “modern Chinese”. In October at 2007, the Italian luxury group Fendi held a fashion show on the Great Wall in China. That is a big event in the world, it symbols the internationalization of China, and the nationality of people being changed from moldy to modern.