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.