Vast Chinese Walls Series: Built and Maintained

Meng Jiangnu wailing for dear husband lost

Built and maintained at exorbitant cost

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Building, replacing, and maintaining the Vast Walls, combined with the demands for provisioning soldiers in remote regions, was extravagantly expensive and burdensome. This became particularly so during the massive expansion and renovation projects carried out during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ultimately, this fiscal drain and the fact that the new Manchu conquerors of China were from the other side of the Ming Wall led to the Walls being abandoned during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

In the modern era, several sections of the Great Wall north of Beijing have been fully restored for tourism. The Wild Wall remains untamed. Sections that are threatened are stabilized, but not restored. We walked through this ruined watchtower that was in the process of being stabilized. The archaeologists had already been here to do their thing. Now, workers were doing theirs. These workers are mostly older men from far away. It is hard work for little pay in tough conditions. Younger people have no interest.

The workers have run a small-diameter, surface water line up the mountain. Small generators operate equipment. Mules carry supplies by muscle memory along the narrow, steep forest trails. We had to wait at the side of a trail while two mule trains passed us by with supplies for the isolated work site.