Setting forth
We have travelled to Mutianyu, about an hour and a half north-west of Beijing, to see the Great Wall. A sign proclaims that this section of the wall was built by General Xu Da in the early Ming dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 to 1398) - who was the first Ming Emperor. In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu became leader of an army that conquered China, ending the Yuan Dynasty and forcing the Mongols to retreat to the Mongolian steppes.
Setting forth
We have travelled to Mutianyu, about an hour and a half north-west of Beijing, to see the Great Wall. A sign proclaims that this section of the wall was built by General Xu Da in the early Ming dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 to 1398) - who was the first Ming Emperor. In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu became leader of an army that conquered China, ending the Yuan Dynasty and forcing the Mongols to retreat to the Mongolian steppes.