Traveling the World

This photo was taken where you climb up to the wall surrounding Old Dali, in Yunnan province. Even though this may look like just another wall in China, it’s not. The walls surrounding Old Dali that separate it from the newer section of Dali referred to as Xiaguan seem like a time portal. The old town and its fortress walls were built in the middle of the 14th Century, when the Ming Dynasty emperor Hong Wu reigned. The walls acted as a deterrent for hordes of thieves and bandits, and allowed the residents to feel safe, thus increasing the trust people had in Hong Wu.

Hong Wu was a man with great military prowess, and as a result ended the Yuan Dynasty by capturing Beijing in the middle of the 1300s. As a result of his military actions, the Mongols were forced to retreat to the Mongolian steppes.