Great Wall

　　He who doesn’t reach the Great Wall is not a true man.

　　The majestic Great Wall touches the billows of the Bohai Sea in the east, and traverses the vast expanse of the Gobi desert in the west. It crosses prairies and deserts, nestles up to the Yellow River, surmounts high mountains, stretches 10,000 li and, like a soaring dragon, leaps over the boundless land of China. It was built with the blood and sweat of the laboring people of ancient China. It is a symbol of the brilliance of China’s ancient culture and a pride of the Chinese nation.

　　The Great Wall of China possesses thousands of famous passes. Badaling, located in the outer town of Juyong Pass, is eulogized as one of the top nine passes in the world. 　 It boasts strategically important position, long history, rich culture, spectacular architecture, inspiring sight, and great fame. For these reasons, it is rated as the best of all famous passes. Badaling Great Wall is the outstanding representative of the Great Wall of China. It is the best part of Ming Dynasty Great Wall. It is a precious part of human cultural heritages and a center of attention for world tourists.

　　Badaling Great Wall embodies the wisdom and civilization of the Chinese nation. It is laid with historical heritages of thousands of years. Badaling Great Wall, a place contested by all strategists since ancient times, is endowed with new historical missions these days. It strides across high mountains, straddles deep oceans, crosses time and space, and serves as a bridge of friendship for all people of the world. The seeds of friendship are sown here. The songs of peace are sung here. Let us pray – May the flowers of true friendship never fade at Badaling Great Wall!

　　The beacon fire towers, built at the top of mountains beyond the Great Wall, were used as communication facilities in the ancient time. Soldiers would burn smokes to report the arrival of enemies. What tourists ascend on the Great Wall are watchtowers, not beacon fire towers. The latter are piers largely constructed with gravels and loess in the very places. When finding out enemies, the soldiers would burn smokes during the day, known as Sui, and start a fire at night, known as Feng. They were joined as Fengsui or smoke piers. Beacon fire towers are even older than the Great Wall. The story of “King You of Zhou teases the nobles with beacon fires, winning Bao Si smile but losing the regime” has become wide spread in the country.

　　“Badaling Great Wall is an everlasting monument in the diplomatic history of New China,” said Qian Qichen, former vice-premier and foreign minister, in praise of the role of Badaling Great Wall in the country’s diplomatic history.

　　In 1954, Premier Zhou Enlai showed Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, round Badaling Great Wall. It was the first time for the country to receive a foreign state leader at the Great Wall. Since then, Badaling Great Wall has turned into an important place for the Chinese Government to entertain foreign guests making state visits. The age-old great wall, lit up with the bloom of youth, shoulders a new historical mission to give voice to the world in its unique modes that the Chinese people love peace and cherish friendship.

　　In 1972, President Richard Nixon of the United States climbed up the Badaling Great Wall. In the face of all the majesty of the Great Wall, he uttered a sigh “Only a great nation, in order to come to such a great build the Great Wall. In 2002, US President George W Bush toured Badaling Great Wall after a successful state visit to China. He stood at the same spot where President Nixon visited, and prompted a witty remark “I will surpass the record of President Nixon.” Before departure, President Bush wrote down in the visitors’ book “May our people enjoy a lasting peace and good luck.”

　　To date, Badaling Great Wall has received a total of 150 million Chinese and foreign visitors. They included 460 heads of states, heads of governments and numerous men of the day, such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, Boris Yeltsin, George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, and Barack Obama. They have left historical footsteps here and their infinite impressions of the Great Wall. They have sown seeds of friendship here and sung the songs of peace.

　　For this purpose, in 2002, Badaling Great Wall was conferred by the Shanghai Great World Entertainment Center Disney headquarters the Guinness records as a “scenic spot receiving the largest number of tourists in the world” and a “scenic spot receiving the largest number of foreign heads of state and heads of government.”