Jiayu Pass: great pass under heaven(2)

2007-10-16 14:33:17 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

It is said that the towers were made from the top to bottom. The workers first piled up an enormous heap of earth, and once they were able to construct the top of the tower, they dug away some of the earth to build the third floor, the second and then the first floor.

Outside the eastern outer court, we saw three historic buildings: the theater platform which was built in 1792, a temple for Guan Yu, a figure from the Three Kingdoms (220-280) period but who was later revered as a God by the Chinese people, and the Wenchang Tower, which were both first built in the Ming Dynasty and later rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

The inner court is the center of the Jiayu pass. In the inner court, there is the Guerrilla General House, which covers an area of about 3,000 square meters and is actually made up of two conjoining Chinese courtyard houses. The house used to be occupied by military leaders and their families, who were garrisoned in the pass during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Looking up at one of the eaves of the west side tower of the western outer court, visitors can see a legendary brick which was said to be used to stabilize the entire complex.

Because the Jiayu Pass is in the middle of nowhere, visitors may wonder where workers in ancient China could get materials and how they were moved there.

Entering the Jiayu Pass, we saw many huge stones paving the steps, at the base of the wall and the gates. The stones are 2 meters long, 50 centimeters wide and 30 centimeters thick.It is said that these stones were taken from the Black Mountain 30 kilometers northwest of the Pass.

Being so heavy, the stones had to be moved during winter when workers were able to make a slippery path down from the mountain to the designated site.

The Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum, which is about five minutes' walk from the Easter Dam Gate, is also something new. Built in 1989, the museum showcases the history and culture of the Great Wall.

The museum, which costs an extra 10 yuan to visit, is home to a 21-meter-long and 10.5-meter-wide oil painting depicting the western part of the Great Wall, which crosses deserts and follows mountain ridges for more than 5,000 kilometers until it reaches the Shanhai Pass on the east coast in Liaoning Province.

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