InthenorthofChina,thereliesa6,700-kilometer-long(4,161-mile-long)ancientwall.Nowwell-knownastheGreatWallofChina,itstartsattheJiayuguanPassofGansuProvinceinthewestandendsattheShanhaiguanPassofHebeiProvinceintheeast.AsoneoftheEightWondersintheworld,theGreatWallofChinahasbecomethesymboloftheChinesenationanditsculture.

　　LotsofbeautifullegendsandstoriesabouttheGreatWalltookplacefollowingalongtheconstruction,andsincethattimethesestorieshavespreadaroundthecountry.Thosethathappenedduringconstructionareabundant,suchasMengJiangnu'sstoryandthelegendoftheJiayuguanPass.MengJiangnu'sstoryisthemostfamousandwidelyspreadofallthelegendsabouttheGreatWall.ThestoryhappenedduringtheQinDynasty(221BC-206BC).IttellsofhowMengJiangnu'sbitterweepingmadeasectionoftheGreatWallcollapse.MengJiangnu'shusbandFanQiliangwascaughtbyfederalofficialsandsenttobuildtheGreatWall.MengJiangnuheardnothingfromhimafterhisdeparture,soshesetouttolookforhim.Unfortunately,bythetimeshereachedthegreatwall,shediscoveredthatherhusbandhadalreadydied.Hearingthebadnews,shecriedherheartout.HerhowlcausedthecollapseofapartoftheGreatWall.ThisstoryindicatesthattheGreatWallistheproductionoftensofthousandsofChinesecommoners.

　　AnotherlegendabouttheJiayuguanPasstellsofaworkmannamedYiKaizhanintheMingDynasty(1368BC-1644BC)whowasproficientinarithmetic.Hecalculatedthatitwouldneed99,999brickstobuildtheJiayuguanPass.Thesupervisordidnotbelievehimandsaidiftheymiscalculatedbyevenonebrick,thenalltheworkmenwouldbepunishedtodohardworkforthreeyears.Afterthecompletionoftheproject,onebrickwasleftbehindtheXiwongcitygate.Thesupervisorwashappyatthesightofthebrickandreadytopunishthem.HoweverYiKaizhansaidwithdeliberationthatthebrickwasputtherebyasupernaturalbeingtofixthewall.Atinymovewouldcausethecollapseofthewall.Thereforethebrickwaskeptthereandnevermoved.ItcanstillbefoundtheretodayonthetoweroftheJiayuguanPass.

　　Inadditiontotheabove-mentionedstoriesabouttheconstructionoftheGreatWall,therearealsoplentyofstoriesaboutcurrentscenicspots.AfamousoneisthelegendoftheBeaconTower.ThisstoryhappenedduringtheWesternZhouDynasty(11thcenturyBC-711BC).KingYouhadaqueennamedBaoSi,whowasverypretty.KingYoulikedherverymuch,howeverBaoSineversmiled.AnofficialgaveasuggestionthatsettingthebeacontoweronfirewouldfrightentheKing'ssubjects,andmightmakethequeensmile.KingYoulikedtheidea.ThesubjectswerefooledandBaoSismiledatthesightofthechaos.LaterenemiesinvadedWesternZhou,KingYousetthebeacontoweronfiretoaskforhelp.Nosubjectscametohelpbecausetheyhadbeenfooledoncebefore.Thus,KingZhouwaskilledbytheenemyandWesternZhoucametoanend.

　　BeautifulstoriesandlegendsabouttheGreatWallhelptokeepaliveChinesehistoryandculture.IneachdynastyafterthebuildingoftheGreatWall,manymorestorieswerecreatedandspread.