The Chinese expression for China is 中國/中国, 'Zhōngguó'. An appropriate English translation would be "middle kingdom".
The western name is derived from the name of the Qin-Dynasty that first unified the country under the first Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
This was the first dynasty in a long list of well over a hundred.
This territory comprised an area only about a quarter the size of present day China.

For a long time it has been asserted that The Great Wall of China is the only structure that can be seen from outer space.
This is not true.
However, when visibility conditions are good, the shadow of the Great Wall can be seen from a great height, when the sun in winter is low in the sky and the Wall creates a broad band of shadow.

China’s first astronaut- Yang Liwei- said after his space flight in 2003, “the view was beautiful but I wasn’t able to see the Wall”.
Subsequently the Chinese government had new school books printed, in which the incorrect information was changed.
The Wall was built between the 6th and 16th century BC to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from attacking Nomads. It is 6.350 km long (main wall 2.400km) and pertaining to volume and mass, the largest structure in the world.
At the same time the wall is of a system of several segments, not all connected with each other, which are of different ages and construction.

While some parts near tourist areas have been preserved or even restored, many other parts of the wall are in bad condition.
Villagers who live in the neighbourhood use the Wall as a source of stone for houses and roads.
Other sections of the wall fell victim to graffiti or were torn down to make room for new development.

Format: 80 x 64 cm