The Great Wall Through the Decades

The Great Wall of China remains one of China's most iconic landmarks, attracting millions of tourists each year.  It's remarkable how little it's changed since these early engravings from 1901, though you're probably more likely to see tourists than rickshaw riders these days. 

While this 1920 photograph could almost as easily have been taken in 2000, the 1946 George Lacks image of soldiers marching through the Great Wall shows a different historical perspective.  This 1972 image of President and Mrs. Nixon on the wall shows another contrasting element, and one that probably wouldn't have been too welcomed by those 1946 soldiers.   

Regardless of how much China continues to change, the Great Wall continues to connect the past to the present. 

\