A DID YOU KNOW In the 200s BC the first emperor of a united China connected parts of the wall that stood as separate sections to make one long
THE GREAT WALL Ancient China's Giant Guardian RCHIO he Great Wall of China is the largest structure humans have ever built Chinese emperors had the wall built to guard the country from raids or invasions It runs from east to west for more than 4 000 miles as it stretches across the mountains and valleys Why of northern China It is about 20 feet thick at its base and as tall did the as a house The entire wall is made of earth and stones The Chinese emperors have the wall also had watchtowers Great Wall placed along its length built Different parts of the wall were built at different times but all of it was finished long before there were machines to HD help with the building Thousands of men worked to build the wall Many of them died while working on it After the Great Wall was built the people Tourists visiting the Great Wall of China of China felt safer If an enemy approached O Dean Conger Corbis the wall smoke signals would be passed from watchtower to watchtower A signal fire would be lighted if an attack came at night An alarm would be sounded and the emperor's army would rush to defend the wall But the Great Wall didn't always provide protection Because the wall was so long some parts of it were guarded better than others Sometimes enemies broke through Finally the Chinese stopped depending on their wall Today the Great Wall is a great attraction for visitors to China In 1987 UNESCO the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization named the Great Wall a World Heritage site LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES ANGKOR WATCHINA TAJ MAHAL The Great Wall of China is one of the most remarkable structures on Earth It is more than 4 000 miles long and is one of the largest construction projects ever carried out Work on parts of the wall began more than 2 500 years ago Keren Su Corbis 11 eunua Laupou Shupe aam OM adoad a no day or ungen auP pery sloadue at 2amsuny
Jolcanoes EarthquakeS and Plum Rains Tokyo Japan is made up of a string of islands that stretches for nearly 1 500 miles along the coast of northeastern Asia in the Pacific Ocean The four main islands are Honshu Hokkaido Kyushu and Shikoku The largest of them is Honshu Most of the islands are covered with hills and mountains Many of the mountains are volcanoes Some of them are active and some are asleep Mount Fuji is an active volcano though it hasn't erupted since 1707 It is Japan's highest mountain reaching a height of 12 388 feet Rivers flowing past the volcanoes get so much acid in them that they can't be used to water crops There are many lush forests in Japan Japanese cherry trees famous for their spring blossoms are planted throughout the country The forests stay beautifully green because it rains and snows so much in Japan Most parts of the country get more than 40 inches of rain each year The summer rains are called baiu which means plum rain They are called that because they begin at the time when the plums ripen Some parts of Japan get many feet of snow each winter Many kinds of wild animals can be found in Japan's forests They include bears badgers otters mink deer and foxes DID YOU KNOW Mount Ful may not seem so high compared with some of the world's other mountains But it's high enough that during the summer the temperature at the top is 40° F cooler than it is at the bottom 12
JAPAN Mount Fuji is considered the sacred symbol of Japan It's actually a volcano but it hasn't erupted since 1707 At right is a pagoda a kind of tower with curving roofs at each story Jose Fuste Raga Corbis Japan has many wildlife sanctuaries to protect all these wonderful creatures Did you know that there are about 1 000 earth tremors in Japan every year Fortunately most are not very strong When violent earthquakes do occur there is a danger of tsunamis giant tidal waves along the coasts In 2011 a powerful earthquake and tsunami devastated northern Japan LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES ASIA CHINA KOREAN PENINSULA ECH lo T The largest island in Japan is a Honshu b Kyushu c Hokkaido mysuOH easury
