长城，故国与家园

　　你知道有个叫八台子的地方，长城与教堂相依偎吗？你知道在老牛湾，长城与中华民族的母亲河——黄河相交融吗？你知道西水峪水长城上，春天的美景宛如桃花源吗？烽两位作者将历史与现实、人文与风光、正史与传说、资料与实践结合在一起，用风趣的语言、精美的图片、独特的立意，向我们展示了一个不一样的长城，一个更加生动的、有血有肉的长城。 With a total length of 21196.18 kilometers （including 6，259.6 kilometers of artificial walls）， the Great Wall represents the wisdom of the Chinese nation developed since ancient times. It has been a mute witness of Chinese history stretching back more than two millennia. It is the largest ancient defense pro- ject constructed over the longest span of time. Since there was a historical record of the two Chinese characters Chang Cheng （Great Wall） in the Spring and Autumn Period （770-476 BCE）， the work of building and maintaining it has been a continuous process for well over two thousand years encompass- ing vast areas of north and central China. The Great Wall bears the precious historical memory and national spirit of the Chinese nation. With the passage of time， many sections along its 5，000- km length have been destroyed， although the names remain. Sections of the Great Wall extant today， known almost to all， include Badaling， Shanhaiguan and Jiayuguan. We hope this book can bring readers different experiences of an Earth- based structure visible. The areas bisected by it include deserts and grass- lands， rivers and the remains of enemy towers. May the words recorded here make it possible for readers to gain a better understanding of this world his- torical heritage site.

　　魏敏，毕业于中山大学政治与公共事务管理学院，爱好旅行、摄影，记录人文古迹，足迹遍布全国及世界各地，撰写的图文作品刊登于多家人文地理类杂志和网站。对中外古建筑，特别是中国历代长城有着浓厚兴趣并致力于研究和保护，已走访长城遗迹数百处。 刘晓涛，毕业于北京大学公共卫生学院，现就职北京市顺义区疾病预防控制中心，任北京市顺义区人大代表，致力于文物保护和历史传承，对长城历史文化有深入研究，提出过多项文物古迹和传统文化保护建议，并数次组织赴长城边村落的扶贫活动。 Liu Xiaotao Dedicate to the protection of cultural relics and the inheritance of history. He has conducted in-depth research on the history and culture of the Great Wall， put several suggestions on the protection of cultural relics， historic sites and trandi- tional culture forward to government， and organized poverty-alleviation activities in villages near the Great Wall for several times. Wei Min Love to travel， photography， record cultural relics. So far， he has visited nearly 200 passages and gateways on the Great Wall. His graphic works have been pub- lished in many human geography， pho- tography magazines and websites.