At the beginning of the new year, the Great Wall, the first dragon of China, welcomed the Year of the Dragon for the first time as a "complete body" of the North and South Great Walls. On January 30th, representatives from Beijing Mutianyu Great Wall Tourism Service Co., Ltd. visited the Jiangnan Great Wall in Linhai for inspection and held a cooperation negotiation meeting. The North and South Great Walls officially reached a collaborative development strategy, agreeing to link domestic and foreign resources, Great Wall cultural experts, industry outstanding enterprises, and work together to build the North and South Great Walls into a renowned Great Wall cultural IP both domestically and internationally. Mutianyu Great Wall and Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall will cooperate in a series of activities such as industrial integration, joint events, shared promotion, and traffic exchange to open up a new model of collaborative development between the North and South Great Walls.
"He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man." The Great Wall, stretching thousands of miles, is something every Chinese person feels immensely proud of. It represents not only ancient China's military defense engineering, but more importantly, it represents the diligence and wisdom of our Chinese ancestors and has become a symbol of our Chinese nation. Mutianyu Great Wall in Beijing and Jiangnan Great Wall in Linhai (Taizhou City Wall) stand tall in the long history of China, carrying countless stories and legends. Although they are separated by thousands of miles, they have a deep historical origin and a close relationship.
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Mutianyu Great Wall
Mutianyu Great Wall is located in Huairou District, Beijing. Its ecological environment is outstanding among all sections of the Great Wall. Surrounded by mountains, the scenery is beautiful, and the vegetation coverage rate is as high as 96%. The scenery is beautiful in all seasons. The famous Great Wall expert, Mr. Luo Zhewen, once wrote, "In our impression, it seems that all the Great Walls are on barren mountains and wild ridges, but Mutianyu Great Wall is actually in the midst of lush greenery. The vegetation here is lush, the forest coverage rate is high, and the seasonal landscape of plants is colorful. The natural ecological environment is excellent, forming an unique landscape.
Mutianyu Great Wall was built in 1368 AD by Xu Da, a general of Zhu Yuanzhang, on the site of the Northern Qi Great Wall. It is a strategically important military site that has guarded the capital region since ancient times and is the essence of the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall. In the second year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1404 AD), Mutianyu Pass was built. Its main gate tower, which consists of three watchtowers, as well as the design of the large corner tower, double-sided battlements, horse road drainage ditches, and other buildings, is unique in the Great Wall. The three-dimensional sense of Mutianyu Great Wall and the coexistence of inner and outer supporting cities reflect the highest artistic achievement of the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall construction. The spectacular scenery of the Niujijiaobian, the Eagle Flying Upside Down, is also magnificent.
The scenic area was rated as a national 5A-level tourist attraction in 2011 and was selected as one of the first batch of national civilized tourist demonstration units in 2021.
Since its establishment, the scenic area has received many famous Chinese and foreign politicians and celebrities, and has hosted or undertaken many major sports events and activities. It has been a popular location for filming for many years.
At the south ticket gate of Mutianyu Great Wall scenic area stands a majestic statue of Qi Jiguang. The pedestal of the statue is 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and the statue is 4 meters high. It was erected on July 29, 1993. The entire statue is made of reddish-brown marble and depicts Qi Jiguang in full military dress.
During Qi Jiguang's tenure, the importance of Mutianyu Great Wall was self-evident. It not only guarded the gateway to Beijing, but also had the important task of protecting the Ming Dynasty imperial tombs in Beijing. Therefore, the construction and maintenance of Mutianyu Great Wall received great attention.
Under the leadership of Qi Jiguang, Mutianyu Great Wall completed the highest level of upgrade, making it more perfect in defense function. The construction of watchtowers in Mutianyu section was very dense, greatly enhancing the defense capability of the Great Wall. Qi Jiguang made great contributions to the construction and maintenance of Mutianyu Great Wall. His efforts made this section of the Great Wall an important part of the Ming Dynasty's defense line and left valuable historical heritage for today's people.
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Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall
The Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall stretches over 6,000 meters, with over 5,000 meters still standing. It starts from the Lansheng Gate, winds along the Beigu Mountain ridge, and reaches the Yanxiage. It runs straight to the east bank of the Lingjiang River through steep mountain rocks and extends to the west foot of the Jinshan Mountain. It follows the mountain terrain and overlooks the Yangtze River, with the northern part being the most precipitous. The Jiangnan Great Wall was first built during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and has been continuously expanded and repaired by the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties for over 1,600 years. In 2001, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit, and in 2012, it was included in the tentative list of China's world cultural heritage. Luo Zhewen, the leader of the Chinese ancient architecture expert group and former honorary chairman of the Great Wall Society, praised it as the "model" and "blueprint" of the northern Ming Great Wall.
In history, the construction of the Jiangnan Great Wall is closely related to the northern Great Wall. In the 38th year of the Jiajing reign, Qi Jiguang stationed in the Taozhu City of Linhai and found that the city walls were in disrepair. He immediately mobilized the military and civilians to repair the walls on a large scale. With a military strategist's insights, he found that the northeast and northwest corners were "overgrown with bushes and blocked," becoming dead corners. Therefore, he creatively built a hollow enemy platform at each corner, making the Taozhu City "with a platform on the wall, a tower on the platform. Nothing can be hidden outside the city." The construction of the hollow enemy platform greatly enhanced the defense capability of Taozhu City. Qi Jiguang spent eight years in Linhai and, together with the governor of Taizhou, Tan Lun, restructured the ancient city walls of Linhai, making them higher and thicker. He also developed the architectural style of the hollow enemy platform and built thirteen two-story hollow enemy platforms on the "Jiangnan Great Wall." These enemy platforms span both sides of the city wall, with large interior spaces that can accommodate troops and are very convenient for observation, defense, and communication, which greatly enhanced the defense capability. Later generations dubbed this section of the city wall the "Jiangnan Badaling" and the "Jiangnan Great Wall."
With the easing of the Southeast Sea Defense crisis, the problem of "Northern Barbarian" became more prominent during the Ming Dynasty, and resisting the invasion of Mongolian tribes became the main task of national defense. After ascending to the throne, Emperor Mu of Ming began to rectify the northern border affairs, and Qi Jiguang, who was capable of fighting, was called by the court to guard the northern border. Jizhen was the gateway to protect the capital and had an important military position. It was a key area for the Ming Dynasty's northern border defense. In the second year of the Longqing reign (1568), Qi Jiguang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Jizhou, Changping, and Baoding military affairs. The following year, he was appointed as the general of Jizhen, responsible for guarding Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhaiguan, and other places. In addition to training and preparing for war, he actively built border walls and strengthened defense construction to resist the Mongolian cavalry's raids.
In the third year of the Longqing reign (1569), Qi Jiguang submitted a memorial requesting the construction of a hollow imperial defense platform, which was approved. He relied on the existing Great Wall and brought the construction experience and technology of the Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall to the north. He reinforced, heightened, and thickened the existing city walls of the Great Wall, and set up battlements on both sides of the wall. He also built hollow enemy platforms on the wall line, deployed a strict defense system, formulated guard agreements and signal fire methods, and formed a stable and efficient strategic defense line. During the 16 years that Qi Jiguang guarded Jizhen, the Mongolian cavalry did not step into the Great Wall, and people's lives were stable, and national security was guaranteed. The double-layer hollow enemy platform created by Qi Jiguang also became one of the iconic landscapes of the Great Wall. Many sections of the Great Wall, such as Badaling, Mutianyu, Simatai, Gubeikou, and Jiaoshan and Laolongtou near Shanhaiguan in Hebei, were all planned, designed, improved, and preserved by Qi Jiguang. Therefore, the Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall can be said to be a model and blueprint of the Ming Great Wall.
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Standing for thousands of years in the north and south
Deep roots spanning thousands of miles
As two unique cultural heritages, Mutianyu Great Wall and Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall witness the historical changes of China. They silently tell the vicissitudes of history and the wisdom of the nation. Standing at the top of Mutianyu Great Wall, we seem to hear the echoes of history; walking on the city wall of Southern Coastal Jiangnan Great Wall, we seem to feel the weight of culture. The miracle of history intersects and blends at this moment, help us better understand the past and future of the Chinese nation.
In 2024, the north and south Great Walls will jointly hold the "Scenic Area in the Future" Cultural Tourism Integration Innovation Development Conference and the "North and South Great Wall Cultural Tourism (Cultural Preservation) Development Forum", gathering domestic and foreign advantageous industrial resources, jointly holding a national primary and secondary school calligraphy and painting competition, North and South Great Wall Cultural Festival, North and South Great Wall Cultural Digital Exhibition, and jointly creating a series of explosive cultural and creative products, exploring new methods for joint development of scenic spots in the new era.
This cooperation will also kick off with a mutual ticket discount activity. The specific rules are as follows:
Ticket Interchange Discount Promotion
1. Activity content: From October 1, 2023 to February 24, 2024, tourists who purchase tickets with real names at Mutianyu Great Wall or Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall can enjoy free ticket discounts at the other scenic spot.
2. Ticket interchange method: During the activity period, tourists who successfully purchase tickets with real names at Mutianyu Great Wall or Linhai Jiangnan Great Wall in Beijing can exchange tickets at the ticket service center of the other scenic spot with their ID cards. After verifying the information, they can receive free tickets.
3. Ticket interchange validity period: February 10, 2024 to February 24, 2024
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Xi Zhongxun's slogan "Love China, Repair the Great Wall". Repairing the Great Wall not only means protecting and repairing the Great Wall, but also strengthening the Great Wall culture and the backbone of China. The Great Wall, which runs from north to south, is a representative symbol of Chinese culture and an important part of the ancient Chinese military defense system. It has witnessed the long history and profound cultural heritage of Chinese civilization. The joint development of the Great Wall in the north and south is of great significance for revitalizing historical culture, enhancing national identity and cultural confidence.
