Jiayuguan Fort

A frontier fortress at the western end of the Ming Great Wall, set down in 1372 at the narrowest point of the Hexi Corridor between the Qilian range and the Mazongshan mountains. Faced rammed-earth walls enclose two courtyards and their barbicans, and three-tiered wooden towers rise above the gates. Silk Road caravans passed through this checkpoint, and beyond it, for medieval China, foreign lands began.

On the map