Overview of Jiayuguan - Google Earth image
by mke1963
It is difficult to describe the Jiayu Pass without seeing the landscape. The photo is a Google Earth image taken from the north-east looking south-west over the 17km gap between the Heishan (on the right) and the Wenshu part of the Qilianshan (to the left).
The orange dots (if not legible) are from L to R: the First Signal Tower (actually two dots), the Jiayuguan Fortress and the reconstructed Water Gate on the right at the foot of the Heishan. The Overhanging Great Wall goes up the slope here NNW for 1 km, but cannot be seen from the satellite images.
The black area to the north of the first slopes of the Heishan (directly above the water gate) is not a historical feature but a lake that has been constructed to supply water to the steelworks in the city.
Jiayuguan is out of view to the left.
The Nine-Eye Spring
by mke1963
Just below the fortress, inside the wall is a lake, now ornamental, but this lake is also home to a legend. During the fort's construction, water was an eternal problem and many men were tasked with bringing water from springs and streams some distance away: the small spring and stream at the foot of the ridge was just insufficient for the huge army of builders. An old man - they always seem to be old men - appeared and said that if granted one wish, he would find sufficient water nearby. When the military building supervisor conented and asked for the one wish, the man said that he wanted half the men working on the construction to be allowed home to help with the harvest, to which the supervisor agreed. The old man walked slowly down to the beach of the spring, and picked up a handful of dusty gravel. Hethrew the gravel high up in the air, and when it landed with a clatter on the beachside, water started pouring out from nine springs. The water quickly filled the entire stream bed and it became the lake that is seen today. The labourers and officials were impressed and turned to thank the old man - who had disappeared.
Not much of culture but modern looking
by l_joo
Nothing to write yet but I can tell you how happy I was when I step on this Great Wall, just can't stop taking photos. This little town has not much of culture but only factories, industrial buildings and some taxis waiting for you but hey I like this place much more than other crowded tourist areas like Guilin especially.
This is the First Peacon...
by l_joo
This is the First Peacon Tower, WOOOOOOOOOOOOW...!! This place is more than just words and writtings. You have to see it yourself. 100 points I rate. The taxi drove a long way with only desert around us just like this photo at left, we ask for a stop to take some photos, later we arrived here with a small inscribed stone 'The First Peacon Tower' (in Chinese). Here you can see the remaining of ancient GreatWall without reconstructed, looks ugly but very original but it wasn't the GreatWall that attracts us, it was the scenery of it's own, I can't tell you..Out of this world.
Jiayuguan Fortress - Part III
by mke1963
In 1506, a master builder, Wang Zhen, started building the huge Guanghuamen and Rouyuanmen towers above the east and west gates. Each stood on a platform 9 metres above the ground, and were 17 metres high. Legend has it that Wang was unsure as to how to build the two towers and gathered all his trusty craftsmen together to discuss the possibilities. This was done under the full moon of the Mid Autumn Festival and the men ate and drank, sitting on one of the two platforms gazing out over the silent desert. Eventually, one old man, who had offered nothing to the debate, suggested building the towers from the top down. The others mocked him, but Wang realized that this would probably be the most effective and cheapest way. So huge mounds of earth were piled up on the platform and after completing each layer,soil was removed and the next level down was constructed. It was all finished by February the following year.
The big open space inside the Jiayuguan Fortress looked very different when Aurel Stein passed by in mid July 1907. He approached from the north-west and saw the fortress as it would have looked down the centuries, stark and forbidding, up on the edge of a low ridge.He described the inner area as being "sadly decayed, half the houses of its single broad streetbeing roofless ruins". Now, these houses have disappeared altogether, and there remains just the commandant's house, partly restored, to one side.
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Upper bunk
The Hanging Great Wall
Zip-line ride
Recreation of inside of tombs