The Great Wall

The Great Wall: A Photographic Journey Across China brings together an extensive selection of Dong's photographs, tracing the Wall from the earliest earthen ramparts of the Warring States period to the monumental brick fortifications of the Ming. Organized along two axes--a chronological arc of 2,000 years and a geographic sweep from the Bohai coast to the Pamir Plateau--the volume follows the Wall across fifteen provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.

The photographs are accompanied by concise field notes drawn from Dong's firsthand research. His decades of fieldwork have helped locate overlooked sections, challenge earlier assumptions about the Wall's extent, and deepen understanding of its historical development. Together, image and text reveal the Great Wall not as a single monument of one dynasty, but as an evolving frontier system shaped by warfare, trade, migration, cultural exchange, engineering, and landscape.

With 250 photographs across 344 pages, this large-format hardcover offers an authoritative visual record for readers and collections in photography, Chinese history, architectural history, cultural heritage, Asian studies, and Great Wall studies.