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Great Wall
China’s most rural reaches retain their beauty and mystery even as the countryside and its people are touched by the rapid pace of industrialization. Writhing like dragon tails, the Great Wall is not one structure but many. Most of what is called the Great Wall was built during the 14th-century to 17th-century Ming dynasty. The total length of the walls is unknown, though the sections built by the Ming alone would stretch from Washington, D.C., to Wichita, Kansas.
Photograph by Justin Guariglia

China Countryside

See photos of China’s countryside (including the Great Wall, Sichuan Province, the Taklimakan desert, and more) in this travel photo gallery from National Geographic.

Published June 29, 2010