Julie: China is a country undergoing rapid change. In the cities, skyscrapers, the international symbol of capitalism, are now a fixture on the horizon. While in the country side, life goes on as it has for centuries. Rice is still the staple of China’s 1.2 billion people. And family groups work together to eaked out a living. The Chinese people have survived centuries of depression and struggle. And an enduring symbol of their perseverance still stands today.
Male: I can't really put it in words the feeling that you get the first time you see it.
Male2: It was built over 2000 years ago to protect the emperor’s kingdom form marauding nomads.
Male: To see it for the first time, its wow. I've seen it.
Male2: It took hundreds of thousands of workers, many of them political prisoners, centuries to complete.
Female: The blood and sweat of people actually put in to build up this place, it’s quite amazing.
Female2: It’s endless. Yeah, I like it.
Male3: It is the face of China. I think every Chinese is proud of that. Foreigners, they come here, they say, oh it’s incredible to build such long walls. 2500 years ago, in ancient times without modern machineries.
Male4: What an engineering masterpiece. We always pride ourselves now with our engineering and so on, but I guess they weren’t too shabby in those days.
Female3: Every place that you look, you could see another spot. It went on as far as the eye could see. It’s incredible.
Male2: Constructing the great wall takes a phenomenal task.
Mark: 5000 kilometers of this, you don’t have to worry about the enemy. If you can imagine building, walking it is hard enough.
Male2: The great wall stands as a monument to the will and determination of the Chinese people.
Male5: This is a traveler’s paradise to be here.