4. Yumen Pass
Yumen Pass relics, as part of the Silk Road project which has been jointly applied successfully by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is on the UNESCO world cultural heritage list. It once was an important gateway linking central China with the western regions of the Silk Road back in the Han Dynasty (BC 202- 9 AD ).
The name of Yumen Pass, or the Small Square City, is carved on a stone at the exit of the Yumen Pass historic site which is 90 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang county. [Photo by Fan Chen] |
Yumen Pass relics. [Photo by Fan Chen] |
Yumen Pass relics with its four gateways once served as a military command center.[Photo by Fan Chen] |
The inside of the ruins of Yumen Pass in Dunhuang county of northwest China's Gansu province. With its 10-metre-high mud walls pierced by four gateways, the square enclosure covered more than 600 square metres (718 square yards). [Photo by Fan Chen] |
The natural tableland north of the remains was once used for guarding the respective section of the area. [Photo by Fan Chen] |