The 21st century has been called “the century of Asia” and today China is leading the way for emerging Asian powers. Indeed, the economic clout that China is already exerting in the international market, along with that of Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and others, is reshaping the global economy, and all signs indicate that these trends will continue for the foreseeable future. . While all countries in Asia have a rich, proud, long and eventful history, China stands out for one reason in particular: its Great Wall. Despite its antiquity, the Great Wall of China continues to exert a strong influence on modern Chinese thought and culture, as well as providing a valuable destination for tourists from around the world who want to experience this defining aspect of China first-hand. Taken together, these issues suggest that the Great Wall of China deserves further analysis to identify these effects and what they mean for the Western world, as well as for Asian populations in general and for the Chinese people in particular. This article provides a review of relevant literature to identify the historical effects of the Great Wall of China, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusions. When most people think of the Great Wall of China, it is largely limited to one of the few iconic sights that are regularly presented to the Western world by the mainstream press. One of these views, illustrated in Figure 1, hardly does justice to the Great Wall, however, for a number of important reasons that will be discussed later. Figure 1. Representative iconic view of the Great Wall of China Source: medievalnews.blogspot.com an orderly segment of the Great Wall with its... paper center... has united the Chinese people over the centuries in ways no other architectural structure, regardless of size, could have been created. Works Cited" Brief Description of the Great Wall of China.” 2011. UNESCO. [online] available: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/438. “Great Wall of China”. TravelChina.com .com/china_great_wall/.Silverberg, Robert. The Great Wall of China. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. Squire, Gary. “What I Learned About Teaching at the Great Wall of China: You Wouldn't Think a Veteran Teacher with More three decades of experience would need to reinvent himself and his methods, but on the other side of the world, Mr. Squire has done just that." Phi Delta Kappan 88(7): 530-531. Worth, Christopher. March 2007. “The True Wonder of the World China.” The World and I 22(3): 37.