Yumenguan Pass

Some 90 kilometers northwest of the city of Dunhuang, the Yumenguan Pass (other names: Yumen Pass, Jade Gate, Pass of the Jade Gate) was one of the two passes in the western frontier region during the Western Han Dynasty. The other was the Yangguan Pass. It was the gate of ancient China to Central Asia. For centuries, anybody heading west of Dunhuang to travel along either the middle or the northern route of the Silk Road in the Western Regions had to file through the pass. The pass was so named because the fine jade produced in Hotan in present-day Xinjiang had to travel through the gate before it reached the Central Plains of China. Also known as the Small Square City, the pass is roughly square in shape. It extends 26.4 meters from north to south and 24 meters from east to west, covering an area of some 630 square meters. The crumbling wall that surrounds it is built with rammed earth. A North-south section of the wall is 4.9 meters wide at the base. About 15  kilometers from Yumenguan are the ruins of the ancient city of Hecang, which was actually a granary of the soldiers stationed at Yumenguan. The site today is impressive for its historic resonance and total desolation as much as for anything else.