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| Jiayugun Garrison / Fortress, Gansu |
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| The First Beacon Tower Jiayuguan, Gansu |
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| The Overhang Great Wall of Jiayuguan Gansu, China |
Day 21 Tuesday Sept 16 2025 (Jiayuguan, Gansu) Part 1 - after our HS train ride from Dunhuang, hotel check-in & a short rest, we started planning & took a public bus from a bus stop nearby our hotel to visit Jiayuguan Garrison & Fortress, The First Beacon Tower & The Overhang Great Wall of Jiayuguan - so a challenging 3 in 1 visit awaiting us on our Day 1 in Jiayuguan !
1) High speed train ride from Dunhuang (ETD 08.40 > Jiayuguan (ETA 10.45) approx 377km, 2hr
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| Dunhuang > Jiayuguan, Gansu (377km) |
2) Unfortunately for this leg of high speed train ride, all train tickets were sold out on the 2nd day of the over the counter (OTC) purchase in Dunhuang Railway station. So we had to buy the standing train tickets (no numbered seats) & "squatted " at one end of the wagon using a foldable stool (Y$10) we bought in downtown Dunhuang ! An interesting China train ride experience, fortunately it was a short train ride of 2 hours - so not that stressful !
3) Suburban & countryside scenery as viewed from a moving train from Dunhuang > Jiayuguan, Gansu.
4) Arriving in Jiayuguan Nan (South) Station - finally our "squatting" exercise was over ! After exiting the Jiayuguan station, we took a metered taxi to our hotel for check-in.
5) Hotel Accommodation (2 nights):- Manting Youyue Hotel, Jiayuguan, room tariff Rm53, 2 single beds.
6) Bus ride (Y$1) from a bus stop near our hotel > Jiayuguan Tourism Scenic Area.
7) Arriving in Jiayuguan Tourism Customer Service Center / Ticketing Counter - admission ticket, free for seniors above 70+, adult over 60+ pay Y$64 (concession), normal adult Y$128, for foreigners, just present your passport to the counter & buy the tickets.
8) Shuttle buggy ride from Customer Service Center > Juayuguan Scenic Spot Area passing a purple Lavender garden !
9) Arriving in Jiayuguan Scenic Area & a short walk to Jiayuguan Garrison / Fort (Jiayuguan of the Great Wall)
Jiayuguan was built in Ming dynasty (1372) for the reason of building on the west, people named it Jiayuguan which was earlier than shanhaiguan by 9 years. The snow-covered Qilian Mountain & rolling Hei Mountain is 30 miles apart, making this as a strategic place. Here is the most narrow Hexi Corridor called Hexi First Pass. Jiayuguan West is the ancient battlefield & The Nine Spring is in the east. After the Ming dynasty, General Feng Sheng regained Hexi Corridor & chose to establish the checkpoint here. After 168 years, it became a large scale city & an important Silk Road trail. Hence the need to build a 3 level complex & several defend lines / trenches to defend the Guan City from invaders.
10) Nine Eyes Spring Lake, Jiayuguan, Gansu - The altitude of Jiayuguan area is generally more than 1600 meters & the annual precipitation can only be kept at about 80mm due to the perennial drought & lack of rain, while the evaporation is more than 10 times of the precipitation, posing a great threat to the garrison & survival of the army & the people. However compared with the environment of the northwest plateau, Jiayuguan is a small basin with 4 high hill peaks & a low middle. Qilian melt water in the form of surface runoff & valley undercurrent convergence in the low place, Jiayuguan has become a more concentrated source of water. Jiayuguan under water known as Nine Eyes Spring. Nine is the limit of the number, not number here, but many springs. When feng sheng's army settled on the land, it was the spring at the foot of the Jiayu mountain that first drew them in, and the physical basis of human civilisation in the Jiayuguan region for thousands of years was the constant flow of fresh water.
11) Ticket entrance to Jiayuguan Garrison / Fort
12) The East Gate, Jiayugyuan Garisson / Fort, Gansu - the main access point for Guan City, the gate made of rectangular stones & bricks is 4.2 meters high, 3.8 meters wide & 10.6 meter deep with 36 pieces of squares log to support it. On the ceiling of the gateway, there is a shed frame made of square logs.
13) Stele Corridor, Jiayuguan Garrison / Fort, Gansu
14) The Great Wall is More Than just an Isolated Wall - the front line defence system with the fortified town of Jiayuguan as the core, is composed of walls, independent structure, auxiliary facilities & related remains, providing the first integrated frontline to resist enemy attacks.
15) The Beacon transit from one Tower to another - the Beacon Tower message transmission system was developed to detect & issue early warning as well as transit military messages vie fire signals set off at beacon towers. The beacon toer system of Jiayuguan Sub-Defence Area comprises of 4 levels: northern defence towers beyond the boundary, southern defence towers beyond the boundary, beacon towers along frontier walls & beacon towers within the boundary, military messages were transmitted to the passes & fortresses via these towers & consequently handled in time. This message transmission system effectively ensured the reception, communication & feedback to military messages.
16) An Important Defence Line in the West - the two sections of the walls, centering on the fortified town of Jiayuguan & extending southward & northward respectively, are commonly known as " Visible & Hidden Walls". The Visible Walls refer to a section of the Great Wall that stretches from the south of the fortified town to the cliffs on the north shore of the Taolai River at the foot of the Wenshu Mountains, a part of the range of the Qilian Mountains. The Hidden Walls rise from the East Gate of the outer fortress of the fortified town & finally reaches the hillside of the Heishan Mountain. Both Visible & Hidden Walls are combined to form an important defence line in the west of the Jiayuguan Sub-Defence Area.
17) The Jiayuguan Sub-Defence Area System - the defend area is centred around the fortified town as the command-center, forming a continuous defence line in conjunction with the border walls with the feature of " connecting the dots to form a line & relying on the border to control the enemy". At the same time, it effectively connect the passes, military forts, fortified towns & important military towns along the Great Wall into a tight network, creating a structural system of "scattered dots & fortified layers". It has multiple functions such as combat, command, reconnaissance, communication, concealment & logistics. It presents a well organised, strategic planned & comprehensive defence system for the frontier.
18) A Diagram of the System of Jiayuguan Sub-defence Area
19) The remains of the Great Wall of China in Jiayuguan, Gansu - part of the Jiayuguan Sub-defence Area connecting to the fortress.
20) Wenchang Hall - also known as Wenchang Tower which was built in the Ming Dynasty & rebuilt in 1822 (the 2nd year during the reign of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty), it is a 2 storied & two-eave summit like building. There were characters " Wenchang Hall" & horizontal inscribed boards of "Wei Xuan Zhong Wai" & "Wei Yuan Bo". The building isn the winding corridor. In and outside the first floor, there are 80 ancient landscape paintings.
21) Guan Di Temple - built in 1506AD, 1st year during the reign of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, at that time, it was not only the biggest but also the most popular one in the Hexi area, it used to have one main hall, two side halls, two hallway & an archway. On the walls of the side halls were the story paintings about the Three Midle Kingdoms. Amng the former bulidingsm only the archway was well preserved, the rest was destroyed . The current main building was built in 1998.
22) The Stage - facing north is 3 rooms wide & 2 room deep, rebuilt in the 57th year of Qianlong of the Qing Dunasty (1792AD). The upper part or ceiling of the stage os a wooden lattice roof, painted with "Ba-Gua" or Eight Diagrams which used to help ancient Chinese people explain miraculous things of the universe. On the middle folding screen are painted "Ba-Xian" or 8 Immortals in the Chinese legend & both are east west sides of the stage are engraved with a couplet implying such a meaning. The performance not only show the stories of sadness, goodness, separation & gatherings but also describe different types of people including the wise, the loyal, the foolish & the traitorous, which can be judged by their facial makeup in operas.
23) South Gate - located south section of outer city wall & west side of lookout pier, provided with through-wall door opening structure. The original gate was ruined between 1939 & 1959 and the current architecture was rebuilt from original location in 2014.
24) Chaozong Door - named after the character Chaozong that are on gate of Dongweng City, which means "be loved to the Government & Emperor". South East barbican hack the door to, not with the Guanghua Gate through to the relevant city road roundabout, into the inner city of a line of defence .
25) Guanghua Door - named after character Guanghua Gate on the wall, the left inscription "James Yuelong Suzhou Li Zhili know", the night inscription "Qianlong Year Hsinhai Meng Xia YuejiDan". Opening for the 5 V 5 voucher split-level arch structure, foundation stone for the article, doorways length 22.69 meters, width 4.15m 6.46m high, with large & small stone laying article. The wooden doors, metal nails & black double doors were outsourced.. Standing in the entrance Guanghua Gate the "door in floor" scenes look spectacular, displaying the wisdom of the ancient builder's skills.
26) Hearing swallow's song by striking the rock - according to the legend, there lived a very loving pair of swallows, inseparable in Jiayuguan City. One day, both went out of the city seeking for food. In the evening the city gate was about to close, the female swallow flew in first but the male swallow unfortunately was killed by the closing gate. The female swallow felt sad & moaning all day long until death. Since then, this place repeatedly heard a "chirping" sound. As a consequence, locals when leaving the gate would make a few knocks on the wall & if they heard the 'chirping" sound, they knew they will come home safely. Likewise, when a General was sent off to a battle field, his family members will hit the wall seeking well being & prayers for a safe return !
27) General's Residence - The mansion of General of Guerrilla Warfare faces south & was conceived in Ming Dynasty. It is the official office of Guan City. The mansion is composed of 2 yards & 3 halls. The front yard contains 3 halls & 5 wing rooms standing separately on both sides. The middle hall is made of 3 rooms & the backyard is a court with 11 rooms altogether, which covers a total area of 1,000 sq meters.
28) Performance show in Jiayuguan Fortress, Gansu
29) Rouyuan Doors, Jiayuguan Garrison & Fortress
30) Jiayuguan City, Jiayuguan Fortress, Gansu - also known as West Gate.
31) Jiayuguamn Pass Tower - standing on the tower of Jiayuguan Gate on the right at center of Luo city. Jiayuguan Building was constructed under supervision of Li Duancheng, the military Defence Circuit in 1495. It covers 556 sq meters. In 1873, Zuo Zongtang inscribed words " First & Greatest Pass Under Heaven" on it but was lost in 1931 during dismantling !
32) Camel riding, Jiayuguan Garisson / Fortress - Y$80 per pax for a short one round ride & photography.
33) Watch Tower, Jiayuguan Garrison / Fortress - also called Garrison Tower which was set up on the top of the 4 corners of the inner circuit, it is the place where the soldiers used tio stand sentry. The Watch Tower is a two-storied single room building made of bricks, 5.4m high without roof ridge but with a platform.
34) Nandi Tower, Jiayuguan Garrison / Fortress - the defence tower which excludes the defence wall, can be use for military defence & attack & for the rest of patrols & stone of weapons, it was built in 1506, containing three rooms & covering 38 sq meters.
35) Exiting the Jiayuguan Garrison / Fort to visit The 1st Beacon Tower & The Great Wall of China.
36) Shuttle bus ride (Y$20) to The 1st Beacon Tower, Jiayuguan, Gansu - free admission for senior above 70+, Jiayuguan Garrison ticket purchase covers 2 complimentary tickets for entry to The 1st Beacon Tower & The Great Wall in Jiayuguan.
37) The Historical & Cultural Experience Museum of The First Beacon Tower of The Great Wall, Jiayuguan, Gansu.
38) Underground Valley Exhibition Hall, Jiayuguan, Gansu
39) Taolai River Grand Canyon Viewing Platform, Jiayuguan, Gansu
40) Great Wall No 1 Beacon Tower, Jiayuguan - also known as the First Beacon Tower of the Great Wall or the Taolai River Beacon Tower, it is the starting point of the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall in China, located in Jiayuguan, Gasu Province near the modern day fortress of Jiayuguan, this crumbling tower overlooks the Taolai River & marks the "First Pier" of the Great Wall, a historically significant defensive structure.
41) No 2 Beacon Tower near the front gate entrance
42) The Overhanging Great Wall of Jiayuguan, Gansu - built on a steeply sloping valley mouth, when view afar, the wall looks like a magnificent painting hanging over the cliff, which is how it name ! Free admission for senior above 70+, complimentary ticket provided by Jiayuguan Garrison / Fort Management. Our last visit prior to taking a public bus from the Jiayuguan Scenic Spot Area.
43) Public bus ride from Jiayuguan Scenic Area bus stop to Jiayuguan city
44) Dinner in a local restaurant nearby our hotel in downtown Jiayuguan city, each of us savoured a plate of stir fried chicken & pork / vegetable rice (Y$18 x 2)
45) Manting Youyue Hotel & the surrounding, Jiayuguan, Gansu
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