Great Wall of China, Beijing

We propose a challenge: locate one person that hasn’t heard of the Great Wall of China and we’ll eat our words. But until you do, we’re going to make the bold statement and claim that this is one of the most famous landmarks in the whole world. And oh, what a landmark. If you can even gloss over it with such a nondescript noun. Stretching sinuously across China at a staggering length of 21,196 km, the Great Wall is nothing short of a wonder. And world wonder it really is, made official by its inclusion in the New 7 Wonders of the World list. This is one for the bucket-list and it’s set to be special.

A man-made structure that is both majestic and monumental, this is the longest wall on earth and an attraction that is definitely worthy of the hype. Once built to keep invaders out, and now – quite ironically – continually repaired to keep visitors coming in, the Great Wall has a history that dates back circa 2,700 years. “The things that these walls have seen” may be a common expression, but really: the things that this wall has seen. It’s almost impossible to wrap your head around.

Starting its early days as a series of smaller walls in the 7th and 8th century BC, it wasn’t until the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC that there was a united kingdom and therefore a necessity to join the walls in order to protect the one empire. Ever since there has been no stopping the growth of the wall, with the majority of what we see today having been built during the Ming Dynasty thanks to the unprecedented toil of millions of people.

Generally defending the country’s northernmost border, and snaking an otherwise remote and leafy hill country, not only was the Great Wall supposed to keep the likes of the Mongolians out, but also intended to keep Chinese people in. Eek. Both formidable and fascinating, we can’t help but be jealous that you’re even considering it.