ABSTRACT
Marco Polo's descriptions of places and buildings range from the full and elaborate description of Hangzhou to the brief and unsatisfactory accounts of Quanzhou and Yangzhou, one massive construction that he failed to mention was the Great Wall. During the subsequent Han dynasty, when the Chinese empire extended its control westwards across the Gobi desert, the Wall was extended, too, and garrisons were installed to maintain the signal beacons and defend the Wall. For thousands of years the Chinese have used the 'yellow earth' of north-west China to construct city walls, houses, palaces and towers. The Ming Wall also greatly impressed the members of Lord Macartney's first British embassy to China. Although the Wall functioned not so much as a physical barrier but as a provider of communication lines and shelter for border guards, attention to the maintenance of a garrison on the Wall might have prevented this southern flight.
