Review: Dunhuang Great Wall Review

[Bryan]

Dunhuang Great Wall Review

Summary

The Dunhuang area is the western end of the Han Dynasty Great Wall. The area boasts some very well-preserved Han Dynasty Great Wall features.

Access

Dunhuang is located in Gansu province. It can be reached by car or train. A train from Beijing takes about 38 hours. A train from Jiayuguan takes about 5 hours. You can also fly to Dunhuang from Beijing, Lanzhou, or Xi’an.

Condition

The Dunhuang Great Wall was built in the Han Dynasty making it some of the oldest Great Wall sections that many people visit. As a result, don’t expect it to be in good condition. In most places, it is completely gone. Those that remain are highly deteriorated. Some repairs have been done at Yumenguan. The fortresses at Yangguan and the walled city at Dunhuang are 90% new.

Description

Jiayuguan marks the western end of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. Therefore, all Great Wall in the Dunhuang area, which is further west, was built much earlier, in the Han Dynasty. So while the Ming Dynasty is around 400 to 500 years old, the Han Dynasty Great Wall is more like 2000 years old or more. This alone makes the Dunhuang area Great Wall well worth visiting.

There are two main passes in the area, Yumenguan and Yangguan.

Yumenguan is about 90 kilometers northwest of the city of Dunhuang. It measures about 10 meters high, 26.4 meters from north to south and 24 meters from east to west.

Yumenguan tower

Yangguan is located at Nanxiang about 70 kilometers southwest of the city of Dunhuang. The sole remains of Yangguan is a single tower on a reddish sandstone hill. It measures 4.7 meters high and 8 meters by 7.5 meters at the base and 8 meters by 6.8 meters at the top.

Yangguan tower


Yangguan fortress

Just a few kilometers to the west of Yumenguan at Maquanwan are some of the best-preserved sections of the Han Dynasty Great Wall.

Maquanwan Han Dynasty Great Wall

About 15 kilometers east of Yumenguan are the ruins of Hecang, which was a granary for the soldiers stationed at Yumenguan.

Hecang granary

In Dunhuang city is an excellent museum with several Great Wall exhibits.

Dunhuang museum

Also famous in Dunhuang are the Mogao Grottos which you should not miss if you go to Dunhuang.

Mogao Grottos

[andarchen]

Yangguan was the most western pass in ancient China , there was a very famouse ancient poetry mentioned it thousand years before.

"lightly rains was falling Weicheng in the morning , all the houses and the willows look fresh after the rain. I advice you have another cup of wine, because there are no old friends out of Yangguan pass any more ."

Mr.Wang Wei in Tang Dynasty(618-907) wrote a poetry when his friend was being dispatched to Yangguan ,this poetry is very popular untill now.

Here is whole poetry in chinese :
渭城朝雨浥轻尘，客舍青青柳色新。 劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人

[Kim]

Thanks again for a very interesting description of your trips to the Great Wall last summer. Too bad we didn't have a chance to meet.