Walking the Wall

. . . it’s probably best not to try. Or at least that’s what the builders of the Great Wall seem to have thought.

Along China’s northern frontier there are few physical barriers that act as a natural boundary separating China from the Mongolian steppe. One exception is the canyon of the Yellow River north of Fugu.

Here the canyon walls are so steep that not even the most highly skilled Mongol horseman could scale them. To make an attempt would risk death. That’s why, at various times in Chinese history, this stretch of river served as the border between dynastic China and the northern nomadic tribes. Its sheer natural cliffs could accomplish just as well, if not better, what the builders of the Great Wall sought to accomplish.

A round beacon tower above the river. Not even the man from Snowy River could ride down those canyon walls.

Yet passes could be found. Where tributaries meet the river, it is possible to cross, and by the 15th Century, groups of increasingly hungry and desperate Mongols began to infiltrate and weaken the Chinese hold around the Yellow River. While the Ming Dynasty army was suffering from a shortage of food and horses and unable to put up a good fight, the Mongols started to occupy parts of the Ordos, carrying out regular raids on the Chinese and basically becoming a huge problem for Ming national security.

A tributary valley is visible in the background

At that time, the current Great Wall in this area didn’t exist. Walls had been given a bad rap and the Ming Dynasty ministers wanted to work out another way of dealing with their unfriendly neighbours. So the bureaucrats did what bureaucrats do best – spent the better part of 10 years arguing over the pros and cons of a full-scale attack, trade and diplomacy, or, if all else failed, a bloody big wall. All else failed. By 1474, over 900 kilometres of wall went up around the Ordos, all the way to the Yellow River at Fugu.

But the Yellow River didn’t entirely lose its role as a natural barrier – in fact, it probably helped the Ming Dynasty wall builders save a bit of much-needed cash. From what we could see as we walked up the river, it was clear that the cliffs, in parts too steep to allow passage, were actually just as good as wall. For long stretches there was no wall at all, and there probably never has been. All that was needed to defend such sections were a few watch towers and beacon towers, which were regularly placed above the river.

Where the canyon walls gave way to tributaries and valleys, leaving room for easy yet well-concealed passage, there was still a need for continuous wall. In these sections, we saw at least 200 metres of wall stretching out on either side of the tributary canyon and angling down into the valley floor. This was probably enough, or thought to be enough, defence to block an advance.

This section of wall protects a break in the main canyon wall that could allow passage

Wall stretching down to protect a side canyon