The Great Wall at Jiayu Pass, Gansu China

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The Great Wall at Jiayu Pass

The Great Wall at Jiayu Pass is situated west of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province and it is the terminal of west of the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty.

The pass was built on the Jiayu Mountain which has the highest topography, this is how it got its name. The Jiayu Pass was not only an important place of military, but also it was a defense and trade mouth leading to the Silk Road in ancient times.

The Great Wall started from the Shanhai Pass in Hebei Province in the east to the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west. The Jiayu Pass is the most integrated one existed among the passes of the Great Wall.

Built in 1372, its appearance is grand and magnificent and it has more than 600 years' history. The Jiayu Pass has important value on military because it lies in a piece of narrow valley, its topography is very danger and important, 5km towards north it connects with the Hanging Wall - the Black Hill and 7km towards south it links with the first mound in the world, these form the first pass of the Hexi Corridor. So it deserves the title of "the impregnable pass in the world".

The impregnable pass in the world - the Jiayu Pass is composed with three defense lines - inner city, outer city and city moat. The inner city is main, layer upon layer, forms the military defense systems of one mound every 5 li, one fort every 30 li and one city every 100 li.

The whole pass city appears square, its perimeter is 733.3 meters and it is 11.7 meters high, built with yellow soil, two sides built with bricks and stones to walls, unusually solid. The inner city has east and west two gates, the east is called the Guanhua Gate and the west is the Rouyuan Gate.

There is one corner building on the four corners of the city respectively. There is an enemy building in the middle of the south and north city walls respectively and there are altogether 14 buildings including the sword building, the enemy building, the corner building and the attic.

In addition, in the pass city there built guerrilla general's home, well pavilion and Wenchang Pavilion. Out of the east gate there built the constructions of Qing Dynasty such as the Guandi Temple, the Card Building and the Play Building.

The whole layout is quite fine and grand. Its design is entirely for the need of fighting defense in ancient times. It echoes with the first pass in the world - the Shanhai Pass separated by a long distance of ten thousand li.

The Jiayu Pass has a pass gate leading to out of the pass. On the top of the city, you can appreciate the landscapes of the Gobi Desert in northwest of China. Looking from distance, the Great Wall is like a swimming dragon.

When the sunlight is gorgeous, you can view the landscapes or the strange and unreal appearance. When the north wind is blowing, the flying yellow sand looks like rain flying here and there. When it is snowing in cold winter, you can take in the white landscapes at a glance.

Now the Jiayu Pass doesn't need to take the heavy task of guarding border like before, but it isn't sifted out by time, its role changes into a place of interest in four seasons.