The Great Wall of China is a precious cultural heritage contributed to mankind by the Chinese nation. The Wall is the longest and largest national engineering project in world history with a record length of
construction time, and the most number of dynasties involved. The Great Wall is perceived as the most solid defence construction in human history with its numerous passes, unique fortresses and superior battle facilities. The Great Wall was the best defence system in days of old that created an excellent integration of wartime and peacetime conditions, armed forces and masses of civilians, agricultural production and border defence, local administration and military control. It was a mammoth defence system which fully embodied the military strategy and tactics of old times. As the most gigantic historic relic of the world, the Great Wall of China covers such an immense area and contains such rich archaeological wonders that no other relics could compare with.
— Huang Hua, Ex-President of the China Great Wall Research Society
（黄华，1913-2010，former Vice Premier of China’s State Council）

With hundreds of comparative adjacent pairs of “then” and “now” photos，this book realistically presents the grandeur and splendour of the mightiest，longest 2000-year-old awe-inspiring structure in the world — the Great Wall of China.
The odyssey of photographing the Great Wall, which lasted about 10 years, covered the capital city of Beijing and five regions of China (Hebei，Shanxi，Ningxia，Shaanxi and Gansu) from the rugged shore of the Bohai Sea to the desolate Gobi Desert out in the west, taking present day photos to match photos from the past.
The book reveals how difficult it was to locate historical fortification photographed one hundred years earlier. As visual evidence for the protection and restoration of the Great Wall, it has important historical and academic value.

Author-photographer: Zhang Baotian（张保田）completed a postgraduate degree at Tsinghua University（清华大学）in 1984. Carrying his tripod and cameras，he spent about 10 years，travelling all the way from Liaoning Province to Gansu Province across the vast swathe of northern China. As a Great Wall expert，he experienced all the rigours of fieldwork and photographed a large number of significant fortifications of the age-old Great Wall of China.

THE GREAT WALL IN PHOTOS

After the invention of the camera in the 1830s，it was not long until Western pioneer photographers soon embarked on a new undertaking—photographing the centuries-old，awe-inspiring Great Wall of China. The earliest photos of the Great Wall were taken in 1860 on the west bank of the Chaohe River at Gubeiko，Beijing. In terms of vintage status，photos of the Great Wall were taken before 1949. Those old pictures are scattered throughout books，journals，private albums，postcards，commercial prints， and so on. Some of them，being rarely seen，are immensely precious.
These old photos of the Great Wall reveal graphically what the Great Wall looked like over 150 years ago. Through identification and analysis of the old pictures，present-day photographers are able to ascertain the precise location of the original photos. Going there to retake a shot shows starkly how the Great Wall has changed during the past 150 years，thereby offering precise background information concerning how to prudently preserve the Great Wall. Thus，such photos offer excellent evidence of vestiges of change for our further conservation efforts all along the Great Wall.
Compared with the identification of the location of an individual or separate ancient structure such as Tian’anmen（the Gate of Heavenly Peace）or Yiheyuan（the Summer Palace），identifying the location of the numerous sites along the whole length of the Great W all p resents a much more challenging task. In looking at a vintage photo, the researcher ought to judge precisely where—in which province，which city， or county—the location of the old photo must have been，and he has to do lots of field work at the original location. That proves to be a strenuous，painstaking or even adventurous process，interwoven with successes and failures，hopes and frustrations. Identifying the original location of an old photo may take several days，or several years. Some faded pictures contain excessive blemishes and foxing，so it is almost unthinkable for photographers to pinpoint their sites. Ten or twenty years may elapse before photographers find the precise locations. Such being the case，why is it that some photographers have been displaying such a professional attitude of indomitable perseverence? When it comes to the Great Wall complex，such dedication can only be based on the deep-rooted love for one of the best-known monuments of military architecture in world history.
The present book contains over 580 gripping photographs taken between 1860 and 1949，which speak powerfully，telling a story of the most time-consuming and material-consuming and most labour-intensive construction project in human history，something that is much more than a construction，but part of the geography，history，culture，and military engineering of China and the whole world.
Each image in this book bears four pieces of cardinal information: the caption，location，photographer’s name，and when the photo was taken. The caption written by a foreign photographer show the original language，purely to retain the original photographer’s style.
Rephotography provides us with a rapidly developing genre，an extention of our never-ending fascination with photographs. The most memorable rephotographs are created through the photographer’s perception of the “decisive moment”. To seize it，the photographer anticipates when the scene’s various moving elements are at the most expressive for the rephotograph. Then，he clicks and captures a memorable picture that speaks to us.
One hundred years in the long process of human history is only a twinkling of an eye，which may，however，have witnessed epoch-making events in the world of human beings. During the past century，noticeable changes have taken place along the Great Wall of China. The juxtaposition of old and new Wall photos reveals the vicissitudes of the human world，thus helping us to feel the rapid passage of time and to perceive the unforeseen changes that occurred along and across the Great Wall of China.
With the evidence of numerous historical images，the history of mankind’s development is displayed in a full and authentic way，so that people can better understand the past. Human history is portrayed in images，and so is the history of the Great Wall of China. The grandeur and vicissitudes of the Wall can be better appreciated through vivid and authentic images supplied by photographers.
With the advent of photography in the nineteenth century，photographers，regardless of age，sex and nationality，have recorded numerous images of the Wall. Some of the photos show that the time-honoured Great Wall，though dilapidated or grassed-over in places，is still standing lofty and proud amidst high mountains and towering ridges. Some remote sections of the Great Wall far out in the west are so dilapidated and crumbling that little or no evidence of the Wall can be found. Old photos of these places prove to be all the more precious. The painstaking efforts of the photographers during the past century prove to be highly rewarding. The images facilitate people’s
research into world history in a more concrete and realistic manner，making it possible for people to understand the past in a graphic way. Photos are witnesses of history.
Now，the book THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA: A CENTURY OF CHANGE IN PHOTOS is being published，serving as a thread uniting the Great Wall with all those who cherish a deep love for the Wall，the greatest monument ever built by the human race，helping people to have a better understanding of the Wall and its stories，to feel the charms of the longest construction in the world. Now，let’s join the author and photographers in appreciation of the Wall，and provide appropriate conservation messages for the Great Wall of China.