The Great Lie of the Great Wall of China | Why 21,000 Kilometers of Stone Couldn't Save China

It’s the longest thing humans have ever built: 21,196 km of walls, built over 2,000 years by millions of workers and at least a dozen dynasties. And yet the Great Wall of China was finally beaten, not by an army climbing over it, but by one man who opened a gate. This is the entire history of the Great Wall, from the rammed-earth walls of the Warring States to Qin Shi Huang’s frontier, the Han reed walls in the desert, Genghis Khan, the brick-and-sticky-rice Ming wall, and the night in 1644 when Wu Sangui opened the gate at Shanhaiguan. 🎧 This video has two audio tracks: English and Hinglish. Switch it under ⚙️ Settings → Audio track. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 The longest thing ever built 0:24 A tangle of walls 1:07 The First Emperor 2:24 The Han frontier 3:36 The Mongols 4:22 The Ming wall 6:05 One gate 7:02 Ruin & legend 8:04 The whole story in one breath 💬 The Great Wall: a wonder, or a warning? Tell us in the comments. 🌍 Subscribe to Baro Atlas for the entire history of another world wonder. 📚 Sources China’s 2012 national survey (21,196 km), reported by CBC Lady Meng Jiang legend; Tumu Crisis (1449); Meng Tian; Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty Han dynasty walls and beacon towers (China Highlights) Sticky-rice mortar study, 2010 (Yang et al.) #GreatWallOfChina #History #China #BaroAtlas