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Jiayuguan Fort

Located six kilometers southwest from the city center, the Jiayuguan Fort (Jiayuguan guancheng) is this area's most famous sight. The fort is generally acknowledged to be the western end of the snaking Great Wall, despite the obvious proof that it stretches beyond here (mounting evidence pushing it westward every year). The fort stands in the middle of the narrowest part of the ridge (the Jiayu Pass) that separates the northern Qilian and southern Mazong Mountain Ranges, while on the west and eastern sides of the fort lies the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert. The Section of the Great Wall that leads off from the fort, starting from near the Gate of Conciliation, leads northwards along the Black Mountain (Hei shan) to the Overhanging Great Wall and the continuing Mazong Mountains beyond.

Although the fort was possibly first constructed in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), the present day complex is in the style of the old Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) construction, completed in 1372. With primitive working tools it took thousands of laborers dozens of years to complete the project. Goats, and even ice, were used to convey building materials to the site.

The fort, also known as the "Impregnable Defile Under Heaven" (Tianxia diyi xiongguan), has been crowned as the best in China due to its perilous and bleak location. The existing building is sunk into yellow soil, and the western walls are fortified by bricks. The whole area has a perimeter of 640 meters and is littered with different towers, mostly archery buildings or watch towers.

After numerous wars and intense erosion, the original outer wall and moat were demolished. Nowadays the outer wall is at its highest about 10 renovated meters high, and holds, between the eastern section and the inner wall, a Pavilion (Wenchang ting), a Temple (Guandi si) and an Open-Air Theatre (Lutian xitai). The inner fort, constructed in a solid square shape, holds within its walls only an Exhibition Hall (Zhanlanguan). The main gates leading into here are the eastern Gate of Enlightenment (Guanghua men) and the western Gate of Conciliation (Rouyuan men), the largest of the fourteen gates that feed the fort. Both of these main gates have sloping horse paths on their inner side, a way for riders to ascend and guard the fort and wall.