Great Wall of China
From the 7th century BC, Chinese rulers started building walls around their states to keep out their enemies.
When the emperor Shih Huang Ti united China in 221BC, he gave orders that the walls dividing the provinces be knocked down. But he also ordered his troops to build a wall along the northern border to keep out wandering Xiongnu people.
Between 214BC and 200BC hundreds of thousands of workers constructed the 10,000 Li Long Wall. (A li is an ancient Chinese measurement equivalent to about 0.5 kilometres). But when the emperor died, the wall was abandoned.
About 300 years later, the Han emperor Wu Ti started rebuilding the wall. He decreed it would have 'a beacon every five li, a tower every 10 li, a fort every 30 li and a castle every 100 li'.
Over the centuries other rulers added to the construction. Today the Great Wall of China runs 7,300km from the Shanhai Pass in the east to the Chiayu Pass in the west.
The wall is made of stone, brick and in some places of dirt. It's five metres tall at its lowest levels and nine metres at its highest. A four-metre-wide road on top connects the watchtowers. There are also camps for troops behind the wall. The Great Wall is now a World Heritage site. Even though erosion and construction have taken their toll, much of it remains intact and attracts many tourists.