Ningbo 宁波市 -The Great Wall at Linhai City, Ningbo 宁波临海长城

Construction of the Great Wall at Linhai, then called Taizhou Prefecture, dating back about 1,600 years. In the following Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, expansions and renovations were continuously made. In 1997, a cross section was discovered at the Xingshan Gate of the existing wall. This section of the wall revealed the renovation and expansion process of the Linhai Great Wall. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the three-meter-high wall consisted of earth. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a layer of bricks was added to it and a one-meter-high stonewall was built along it on the riverside to protect it from floods. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the height was raised to about five meters and another layer of bricks was added. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the height was raised again. Both the height and width of the existing wall are greater than 10 meters. It is more than 6,000 meters long. Several gates still exist, including the Jingyue, Kuocang and Wangjiang gates. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates invaded the China’s southeast coastline, including the Taizhou Prefecture. In 1555, Tan Lun, the local magistrate, began constructing a wall along the border. Two years later, Qi Jiguang, a famous national hero, who fought against Japanese pirates, began his eight-year tour of duty inn Taizhou. He renovated the wall, making it thicker and higher, to strengthen its defense capability. Taizhou became a strong fortress against Japanese pirates and Qi and his warriors won rnine battles successively in six years. In 1567, Emperor Longqing (1567-1572) ordered Tan and Qi to renovate the Great Wall in the north. The emperor also selected 3,000 soldiers to participate in the renovation of Taizhou Great Wall to supervise the construction process. The Great Wall in Jixian County of Tianjin and Datong of Shanxi Province were designed and built by Qi Jiguang (1528-1987) and his soldiers. The Badaling Great Wall and the Mutianyu Great Wall in Beijing were also constructed and renovated by Qi Jiguang and his soldiers. The architectural style was the same as the Taizhou Great Wall. The Great Wallin Linhai is among China’s best-preserved historical and cultural relic. Besides the military functions, the Great Wall has another important function: anti-flooding. The Great Wall at Linhai is located at the Lingjiang River’s entrance to the sea. River water and seawater join here, and the water often rises to reach the city. To the west of the city is the Kuocang Mountain range. The wall was specially designed to avert the threat of flooding from streams running off the mountain, and walls were built along the south and west of the river. The tourist who visits the Linhai Great Wall, is amazed by the creativity of its ancestors and the Linhai people’s endeavour in preserving this cultural relic. In 1994, the city of Linhai was named Famous Historical Cultural City by the state.

Linhai (population 580,000) is located at the middle of Zhejiang Province’s coastline On its east is the East China Sea, on its west the Kuocag Mountain, on its south the Yandang Mountain and on its north the Tiantai Mountain. The city has a 74-kilometer-long coastline.

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