Jiayuguan Pass 嘉峪关关城

About Jiayuguan Pass

Gates, corner towers and the inner and outer enclosures control movement through the site, while walls extend into the dry landscape beyond. The most revealing view is across those layers, where the apparently isolated monument becomes part of a much longer barrier. Surviving fabric and later restoration together shape the building visible today.

Jiayu Pass was built as the first frontier fortress at the west end of the Ming dynasty Great Wall, near the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu. Together with Juyong Pass and Shanhai Pass, it was one of the main passes of the Great Wall. During the Ming period, foreign merchants and envoys from Central Asia and West Asia mostly entered China through Jiayu Pass.

The fort is trapezoid-shaped, with a perimeter of 733 metres (2,405 ft), an area of more than 33,500 square metres (361,000 sq ft) and walls 11 metres (36 ft) high. It has two gates, one on the east side and one on the west, each with a building above it; an inscription reading “Jiayuguan” is set on a tablet at the west gate building. Wide roads on the north side lead up to the top of the pass.

The pass stands at the narrowest point of the western Hexi Corridor, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the city of Jiayuguan, between two hills, one of which dominates the pass. It was built near an oasis that then marked the extreme western edge of China, with its south and north sides connected to the Great Wall.

What to look for

• The east and west gate buildings and the layered inner and outer enclosures.
• The corner towers and wall connections extending toward the surrounding dry hills.

The surrounding area

A separate western Hexi city for the fortified pass and the corridor's historical geography.

Location & getting there

Getting to Jiayuguan Pass

Arrange transport to the Jiayuguan Pass scenic-area entrance north of the modern city. Specify the fortress itself; the Overhanging Great Wall and First Beacon are separate sites requiring their own transfers.