CHINA – The Great Wall of China winds 21,000km across the country and is the longest wall on the planet.
Yet it is only one of many magnificent and important walls in China, which began building fortifications 5,000 years ago to protect settlements from invaders.
Many of these city walls are long gone, having been razed by raiders or subsumed by expanding urban centres. But travellers can visit other walls that still stand tall.
Beyond the Great Wall, I have also visited smaller but still impressive versions in the cities of Xi’an, Nanjing, Suzhou, Kaifeng, Dali and Songpan.
Travellers can now explore these wonders, now that China has decided to reopen its borders after almost three years of being walled in by the pandemic. The Chinese Embassy in Singapore in March resumed issuing all types of visas to foreigners, including visas for tourism.
1. Songpan
Songpan was a sublime surprise. I had flown from Chengdu to the Tibetan Plateau to hike in Jiuzhaigou national park, a swath of alpine landscapes and polychromatic Tibetan villages. I had already savoured much of the area’s natural beauty before I stumbled across the wondrous walled city of Songpan.
Perched on the eastern edge of the plateau, about 220km north of Chengdu, this small and culturally diverse city dates back more than 1,200 years and is home to Tibetan, Hui and Qiang ethnic minorities. Surrounding its ancient Old Town area are the Songpan city walls.
Despite being five centuries old, these fortifications are largely intact and some sections are in pristine condition. That is partly because Songpan’s isolation meant it was not in the crosshairs of invaders as often as more centrally located cities.
Tourists can inspect these 10m-tall walls, with the highlight being the commanding city gates that, to this day, are points of entry to the precinct.
Tip: Jiuzhaigou, a national park with colourful lakes and tiered waterfalls, is perfectly paired with a side trip to Songpan.
2. Xi’an
The metropolis houses the famed Terracotta Army Museum, the seventh-century Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the colossal Drum and Bell towers, and the 1,300-year-old Great Mosque of Xi’an.
A number of these attractions are contained within the enormous 14th-century city walls of Xi’an. This well-preserved rectangular structure is 14km long, about 12m high and 15m wide. It is embellished by a series of towers and gates.
The wall can be walked or even cycled, offering fantastic views across the Old Town area within. For centuries, this wall was a key defensive structure for Xi’an, once among the wealthiest Chinese cities.
Tip: Stay inside the walls, near its huge northern gate called Anyuanmen, which offers easy access to leafy Revolution Park and colossal Daming Palace.
3. Nanjing
About 35km in length, Nanjing City Wall is reputedly the world’s longest city wall. This project was undertaken about 600 years ago to safeguard what was then, by some measures, the world’s biggest city.
Nanjing at the time was the grand capital of China. Recognising that it would be a target for invaders, Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu decided to surround the urban hub with a colossal wall. The devastating Mongol invasions of China were then barely a century past, so creating such buffers was considered crucial.
It still encloses central Nanjing and, like in Xi’an, tourists can climb the stairs to its crest and then walk or cycle around the wall, more than half of which remains intact.
Tip: Walk along the picturesque southern section, then explore the neighbouring Porcelain Tower of Nanjing and its psychedelic Buddhism museum.
4. Suzhou
As I walked out of the main exit of the hyper-modern Suzhou Railway Station, I saw the Pingmen Gate, its illuminated two-tiered roof and three arched tunnels set against the night sky.
This elegant structure is one of the few remnants of Suzhou’s ancient city wall. It was the northern gate of this 14th-century fortification, built to repel the rampaging Mongolian armies.
Pingmen was restored in recent decades as part of an effort to rejuvenate what is left of the 15km wall that once surrounded Suzhou.
Tip: Suzhou is best known for its classical gardens. For a perfect day, start at Pingmen, walk south to the Suzhou Silk Museum and towering North Pagoda, then east to the Suzhou Museum of ancient art and the city’s most famous site, the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
5. Dali
Few cities are as nature-blessed as Dali, which is flanked by misty mountains and the splendid Erhai Lake. Situated on the path to Tibet, in south-western China, it has been a strategically important city since it became the capital of the Dali Kingdom almost 1,100 years ago.
Like many valuable settlements, it was once a buffer against barbarians. Built more than 600 years ago, only a few scattered pieces remain. The most famous section, restored in recent years, looms over a historic precinct of the city.
Tip: Although many of the buildings in Dali Ancient City are not really that ancient, they look quite convincing and the enclave is attractive. Its star is the restored city gate, once a key entrance in the original city wall.
- Ronan O’Connell is an Australian journalist and photographer who is besotted with China’s endless array of historical sites.