When I decided to visit China to discover the legend of Mulan, the Great Wall of China was at the top of my list. In the opening scene of Mulan, Shan Yu and his army of Huns attack the Wall, taking Chinese sentinels by surprise. Ever since I watched the film, whenever I thought of the Great Wall I imagined myself pacing up and down, burning torch in hand.

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I would peek at the vast expanse of the empire through the Wall’s battlements, only to catch the glimpse of a group of Huns on horseback, with fiery-eyed falcons perched atop their shoulders. There would be just enough time to throw my torch into the brazier in my watchtower, rallying the Chinese Army against the invaders.

Legend of Mulan at the Great Wall of China

Construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 7th century BC when Rome was just a village. The Wall was built to defend the Chinese Empire from the frequent incursions of Central Asian nomadic tribes, such as Mongols and Shen Yu’s Huns. Dynasties continued building, restoring, manning, and expanding the Wall for over two thousand years, first with rammed earth and then with bricks and mortar. From one end to another, it measures over 13,000 miles, stretching from the Tibetan plateau to the Pacific Ocean.