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0"Rulers of the Central China Plains built the Great Wall along the Yanshan and Yinshan mountains. The latter lies in the central part of Inner Mongolia (connecting the Greater Hinggan Mountains on the east and the Helan Mountains on the west), forming a natural boundary between agrarian and nomadic civilizations in ancient times," he adds.
“中国中原的统治者沿着燕山和阴山修建了长城，阴山位于内蒙古中部，连接东部大兴安岭和西部贺兰山，在古代形成了农耕文明和游牧文明之间的天然分界线，”他补充说。
The Great Wall helped rulers of the Central China Plains secure a relatively peaceful environment for development of an agricultural civilization.
长城帮助中原统治者为农业文明的发展营造了相对和平的环境。
"During some historical periods, when nomadic powers broke the defense of the Great Wall and dominated the Central China Plains, the nomadic people became a part of the more influential agricultural civilization. Thus, the Great Wall played a key role in the progress of Chinese history," Zhang says.
“在一些历史时期，当游牧势力突破长城防御，统治了中原地区，游牧民族也成为了更有影响力的农业文明的一部分。因此长城在中国历史的进程中也起到了关键作用，”张文平表示。
Building the extensive bulwark — sometimes on dangerous cliffs — and dispatching garrisons cost too much money and labor. Bricks, stones and lime were carried along the mountain ridges on shoulders or by using handcarts and rolling logs. Sometimes, donkeys and goats were used to ferry raw materials.
建立这样一个宏大的防御工事（有时在悬崖峭壁上）并派遣士兵戍守，耗费了大量的财力和人力。当时需要用肩扛、手推车或者滚木沿着山脊运载砖材、石材和石灰，有时候也会用到驴子和山羊来运载建材。
Some dynasties employed other strategies. Tang (618-907) rulers, for example, built three cities in the Hetao Plain and stationed troops there as defense against the comparatively weaker nomadic powers. Qing (1644-1911) rulers including Emperor Kangxi managed the Mongolian powers with a banner system instead of building a wall extension.
除了长城之外，一些朝代也采用了其它战略。比如唐代统治者就在河套平原建立三座城池，并驻扎军队以抵御实力相对较弱的游牧势力，包括康熙帝在内的清代统治者并未扩修长城，而是通过盟旗制度管理蒙古势力。
As both troops and commoners ventured into uncharted territory for security and farming purposes, people of different ethnicities exchanged goods and traditions. "In other words, areas along the Great Wall became a melting pot of cultures and civilizations," Zhang says.
随着军民出于安全和畜牧的需要进入到新的领地，不同民族的人民互相交换货品、交流文化。“也就是说，长城沿线地区成为了文化和文明的熔炉，”张文平表示。
However strong it is, the Great Wall, made of stones, lime, bricks, wood or rose willow, still faced wind erosion and people's influence over centuries so that in many sections, only obscure ruins remain. "This is why we need to capture images for posterity," says 72-year-old Hohhot photographer Lei Qinghui.
无论有多么坚固，由石头、石灰、砖块、木头或柳木建成的长城几百年来仍然饱受风雨侵蚀和人类活动影响，目前许多段落的长城仅存断壁残垣。“所以，我们需要为子孙后代留下长城的影像”，72岁来自呼和浩特的摄影师雷庆辉表示。
Since he retired 10 years ago, Lei has visited 95 percent of the 924-km-long Ming Great Wall in Inner Mongolia and snapped 80,000 pictures.
自从十年前退休以来，雷庆辉走访了内蒙古自治区内长达924千米的长城的95%的部分，拍下了八万张照片。
What fascinates Lei the most are the beacon towers, some of which are 22 meters tall, a feature "rarely seen" elsewhere.
让雷庆辉最着迷的是烽火台，有些高达22米，这在其他长城段落十分“罕见”。
The Ming Great Wall is in relatively better shape than the sections built by other dynasties. Some portions are still magnificent, like the Badaling section in Beijing, which has hosted many world dignitaries, including former US president Richard Nixon and the late Queen Elizabeth II.
明长城相较其他朝代长城保存完好，一些部分仍然很壮观，比如北京八达岭长城，世界名人曾造访过，比如美国前总统理查德·尼克松和已逝的伊丽莎白女王二世。
"Apart from some beacon towers, some sections of the Great Wall, despite the vicissitudes, still appear tough and glorious after so many years, which is really touching to see," he says.
“除了烽火台外，长城的一些段落在历经多年风霜后仍然雄伟坚毅，的确令人动容。”他说。
