Stretching some 21,196 kilometres across the sweep of Northern China and delineating the edge of the Mongolian Steppe, the Great Wall of China is a staggering feat of engineering and ingenuity – a vast system of fortifications unrivalled by any other human construction.
Seeing the entire wall is a massive undertaking, but that’s exactly what the new UK documentary Great Wall of China: The Making of China proposes to do, starting in the East at Old Dragon’s Head in the small town of Shanhaiguan in Hebei province, on the shore of the Bohai Sea, to the distant deserts of Ningxia in the far West. It’s a fascinating voyage, with chatty host John Nettles (Midsomer Murders) apprising of the Wall’s colourful history and current conditions along the way.
Construction on several sections of the Wall started as far back as the Spring and Autumn Period (771–476 BC), but the Great Wall as we currently know it came into being around 200 BC when the First Sovereign Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, ordered the existing walls to be connected into one long system, the better to defend his newly minted Qin Dynasty from marauding tribes of steppe horsemen.
Jiayuguan Fortress, the gateway to Ming Dynasty China from the Silk Road. Source: SBS
Only a united China could actually supply the manpower needed for the task. Indeed, one of the Wall’s bleaker nicknames is “The Long Graveyard”, as up to a million labourers died in its construction over the years (but more sober estimates peg the number at around 400,000).
Over the subsequent centuries, construction and maintenance has waxed and waned according to the political dictates of the time. The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) added extensively to the Wall, but Chairman Mao Zedong neglected it in the early years of the People’s Republic of China, seeing it as a symbol of the archaic traditions China had to shed to fully enter the 20th century.
Landscapes along the journey of the Great Wall. Source: SBS
These days, the Wall’s importance as an artefact, a cultural site and a tourist destination is recognised, and several renovations and restorations are underway, employing traditional construction techniques dating back thousands of years.
In effect, this is both a history documentary and a travelogue, and as we progress westward, with stunning aerial photography of the majestic Wall along the way, there’s a sense that we’re travelling backwards in time, leaving the 21st century behind in the coastal megacities.
The Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, rebuilt for tourism. Source: SBS
We meet small plot farmers who are tilling the same soil that countless generations of their ancestors have and see flocks of goats sheltering in abandoned guardhouses. Normally the travel flows in the other direction, as younger generations head for the opportunities the big cities can offer, leaving large swathes of China with a rapidly dwindling population. The walled city of Yongtai, once an important military installation, is now home to only around 70 families, although it draws some interest as a tourist spot and a filming location.
For all that, the Wall endures. The impression you’re left with is that the Great Wall isn’t so much the beating heart of China, but it’s arterial system, tying together the sprawling country and connecting the distant past with our current moment. It’s not easy trying to encapsulate such a marvel, but Great Wall of China: The Making of China comes close.
Great Wall of China: The Making of China premiered at 7.30pm, Sunday 30 January on SBS and is now available at SBS On Demand:
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