Tong Pass 潼关

About Tong Pass

Much of the old fortified town was dismantled during the Sanmenxia reservoir works, so the present visitor area combines surviving historical context with modern tourism construction. The river-confluence landscape is the essential sight. The newer town and defensive-themed precincts are useful for orientation, provided they are understood as interpretations of the pass rather than a complete surviving ancient fortress.

Tong Pass was built in 196, during the late Eastern Han dynasty, by the warlord Cao Cao. It replaced the earlier Hangu Pass as the main strategic post between the Guanzhong region and the North China Plain following the Battle of Tongguan in 211. Tang forces lost the pass in 755 during the An Lushan Rebellion, a defeat that led directly to the fall of the capital Chang'an.

On 23 January 1556 a magnitude-8 earthquake struck the region; around Tong Pass it caused landslides that blocked roads and reversed the Yellow River's flow into the Wei River, part of a disaster with a nationwide death toll estimated at up to 830,000, among the deadliest earthquakes in Chinese history. In the 1960s the old fortified town was demolished when the Sanmenxia Dam and reservoir were built on the Yellow River downstream.

Tong Pass lies north of Qindong, in Tongguan County, Weinan, at the point where the Wei River flows into the Yellow River, with the historic town set on the northern flank of the Linzhi plateau (麟趾塬). The name is said to derive from the river striking against the pass's mountain terrain there.

What to look for

• The meeting river landscape below the pass, with the Qinling terrain enclosing the southern approach.
• The modern old-town and defensive-themed visitor precincts, interpreted alongside the history of the original town’s removal.

Location & getting there

Getting to Tong Pass

Travel to the Tongguan Old City scenic area near Qindong Town in Tongguan County, north of the modern county centre.

• Specify the old-city scenic area by the rivers rather than a generic Tongguan county destination.