Norman Hopke, Jr. aged 9, of Tucson, Arizona, for his question:

How long did it take to build the Great Wall of China?

Lang, long ago, the human family wandered over the earth seeking food and shelter. In time they learned that they could grow their own food, keep their own cattle and build their own houses. Settled civilization began. These first farmers were smart enough to settle in rich valleys where the soil was good. Neighbors came along. People learned to give and take and get along together.

Farming got better and easier. There was time to spare. There was time to plan and discover new things. It was necessary to plan law and order. People learned how to make pots from clay. They discovered how to weave cloth from fibers. In time they invented writing. They wrote down the things that happened. That is when history began.

The early history of mankind followed the same pattern in several different places of the world. There were settlements in Egypt, in Mesopotamia and along the Indus valley of India: There was s settlement on the North China Plain. The people of Egypt and nearby Mesopotamia met and compared their ideas: Btit they never knew of the settlers in China.

We do not know how long ago early man settled in China. But the earliest records of Chinese writing are almost 4,000 years old. They

are scratched on the bones of oxen and on the shells of tortoises. And the early history of the Chinese is not much different from the early history of the other settlers;

The Chinese had kings, or overlords. The overlord families often ruled for generations. '"hey are called dynasties. The poor farmers were treated as slaves. There were a number of different dynasties at one time, each ruling over a stretch of territory. There was often war between the overlords. What's more, the rich farmlands were often invaded by wanderers from the north. All this was hard on the ordinary people.

Then, in about 250 B.C. the state of Ch in conquered the states of all the  of all the other overlords,. The hero of this war was Shih Huang‑ ti. He was the leader of the Ch ins. He ended the fighting between the dynasties and all the people were united under the Chins. It is thought that that is how China got its name.

Shih Huang‑ti then turned his attention to improvements. He built irrigation to water the farmlands. He built a great wall to keep out the invaders from the north. This Is the Great Wall of China. Moat of the building was completed during the fifty years of the hero's reign. But extra work teas added to it through the centuries. Parts of the original wall were rebuilt and kept in repair. New extentions were added.

The Great Wall of China zig‑tags over hill and dale for over 1,500 miles. In some places it is 50 feet high. A road passes between its two brick sides. In some places this road is wide enough for six men to walk along side by aide.