20160507_China_6084 Jiayuguan sRGB
The restored Great Wall continues south from the fort to the Qilian Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, closing off the Jiayu Pass from barbarians from the west (off to the right).
The Jiayu Pass was the very western end of the Great Wall during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and an important waystation along the Silk Road which passed through here starting in the 1st century BCE. The pass is the narrowest point of the western portion of the Hexi Corridor, a 1,000 km/620 mile-long stretch of oases wedged between the Gobi Desert to the north and the Tibetan Plateau to the south.
Construction of the fort began in 1372 and was completed 168 years later in 1540. With walls 11m/36ft high and 733m/2,400ft around, it was known as "The Strongest Pass Under Heaven,"
The Great Wall was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
The Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. (Chang'an, now Xi'an, is in eastern China and Tianshan is a system of mountain ranges in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang Autonomous Region in Northwest China.)
[The term ‘Silk Road’ was coined in 1877 by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen. The Silk Road contributed not only to the exchange of goods and technologies, but also to the mutual enrichment of cultures and traditions of different peoples. Direct maritime trade between Europe and the Far East ultimately supplanted the overland route.]
On Google Earth:
Jiayu Pass Fort 39°48'4.85"N, 98°12'58.42"E
20160507_China_6084 Jiayuguan sRGB
The restored Great Wall continues south from the fort to the Qilian Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, closing off the Jiayu Pass from barbarians from the west (off to the right).
The Jiayu Pass was the very western end of the Great Wall during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and an important waystation along the Silk Road which passed through here starting in the 1st century BCE. The pass is the narrowest point of the western portion of the Hexi Corridor, a 1,000 km/620 mile-long stretch of oases wedged between the Gobi Desert to the north and the Tibetan Plateau to the south.
Construction of the fort began in 1372 and was completed 168 years later in 1540. With walls 11m/36ft high and 733m/2,400ft around, it was known as "The Strongest Pass Under Heaven,"
The Great Wall was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
The Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. (Chang'an, now Xi'an, is in eastern China and Tianshan is a system of mountain ranges in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang Autonomous Region in Northwest China.)
[The term ‘Silk Road’ was coined in 1877 by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen. The Silk Road contributed not only to the exchange of goods and technologies, but also to the mutual enrichment of cultures and traditions of different peoples. Direct maritime trade between Europe and the Far East ultimately supplanted the overland route.]
On Google Earth:
Jiayu Pass Fort 39°48'4.85"N, 98°12'58.42"E