Jiayuguan
From ChinaTravelGuide
Northwest China (西北) » Gansu (甘肃) » Jiayuguan (嘉峪关)
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[edit] Overview
Jiayuguan is located in the middle part of Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province, which was the gullet of the ancient" Silk Road." It has a population of 200,000 and a total area of 2,935 square meters.
Jiayuguan is an industrial city flourishing with a large iron & steel production base. People of many different ethnicities, such as Han, Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, Yugu, Baoan, Hazake, Tu, Sala, Manchu, and Mongolian, live here. As Jiayuguan is in the warm variable zone, it has an arid climate.
The Jiayuguan pass is trapezoid-shaped with a perimeter of 733 meters and an area of more than 33,500 square meters. The total length of the city wall is 733 meters and the height is 11 meters. There are two gates: one on the east side of the pass, and another on the west side. The south and north sides of the pass are connected to the Great Wall. There is a turret on each corner of the pass. On the north side, inside the two gates, there are wide roads leading to the top of the pass. Jiayuguan has three defense lines: an inner city, an outer city, and a moat.
[edit] History
Historically, Jiayuguan was a small township engaged in local trading, catering to the needs of the military garrisons stationed at the fort.
Among the passes on the Great Wall, Jiayuguan is one of the most intact. The pass is also known by the name the "First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven," not to be confused with the "First Pass under Heaven," a different pass located at the east end of the Great Wall near Qinhuangdao, Hebei.
The pass was a key waypoint of the ancient Silk Road.
Jiayuguan has a somewhat fearsome reputation because Chinese people who were banished were ordered to leave through Jiayuguan for the west, never to return.
[edit] Weather
Current Conditions (2008-11-21 11:00:00, local time)
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Jiayuguan |
Temp: 34°F (1°C) |
Jiayuguan Weather Forecast
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Located about six kilometers (four miles) southwest of Jiangyuguan City, the Jiayuguan Pass represents the western starting point of a section of the Great Wall constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The pass covers an area of 33,500 square meters (eight acres) and lies at the base of a narrow valley. It takes its name from one of the surrounding hills, the Jiayu. Commonly referred to as the finest example of its kind on earth, the pass is the best preserved of the Great Wall's ancient military fortresses.
