The Great Wall: Overview

Overview: The Great Wall of China is often regarded as one of the ancient wonders of the world. It was built over a 2,000-year period, and GPS satellites have measured its various sections to be 5,488 miles long. Such a wall did not come cheap in terms of lives lost and time and money spent. This Mini-Q focuses on two of the early Chinese wall-building dynasties, the Qin ( “chin”; 221–206 BCE) and the Han (206 BCE–220 CE). It asks if all the effort was worth it.