Shanhai Pass
» Qinhuangdao, He Bei

山海关 天下第一关

Shanhaiguan,Shanhaiguan Pass

Shanhaiguan is the meeting point of the Great Wall and the sea. In the 1980s this part of the wall had nearly been reduced to dust, but it is now a first-rate resort for tourism after reconstruction.

Shanhaiguan served as a major pass in the eastern section of the Great Wall. It was set up by General Xu Da in 1381 (the 14th year of the Ming Hong Wu reign) when a castle was erected here. As the strategic passage between North and Northeast China, the pass has been a bone of contention for military strategists since the ancient times. It has also been considered the No.1 pass of the Great Wall and the key to the defense of two ancient capitals - Beijing in the east and Chang'an (Xi'an) in the west. Shanhaiguan Pass is a national tourist attraction and first strategic pass at the eastern terminus of the Great Wall.

Shanhaiguan includes a main castle, two supporting castles, one in the north and one in the south, and two semicircular protective walls in front of the main castle, the town of Weiyuan and the town of Ninghai.

The pass of Shanhaiguan is a square and its perimeter is about 4 kilometers long. The walls are 14 meters high and 7 meters thick. At the pass's east, south and north side, there are moats of 8 feet deep and 17 feet wide. People used drawbridge to get over the moat. In the middle of the pass is a tall bell tower.

In ancient times, "Guan" is a pass at the boarder to control the travel. There are 4 town gates in Shanhaiguan: Zhendong (East), Yingen (West), Wangyang (South), and Weiyuan (North). Because they were destroyed over the centuries, today only Zhendong gate still remains. For its position, Zhendong Gate is the most important gate which faces outside the pass. Outside the east and west gates are outer walls to strengthen the defense of the castle. The average height of the Shanhaiguan Great Wall is 11.6 meters, its width over 10 meters. It is built of rammed earth faced with bricks. There hangs a board written "First Pass under the Heaven" on the gate.

Beyond the Shanhaiguan Pass, the Great Wall stretches eastward until it dips into the sea at a place called Laolongtou (Old Dragon's Head). Tourist attractions in the vicinity include the Jiaoshan Section which has the Great Wall meandering along the mountain ridges, Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum which has some interesting pictures, relics and clothes depicting the life story of this snaking construction, and a temple dedicated to Meng Jiangnu, who was one of China's devoted heroines.

Attractions around » Qinhuangdao, He Bei

Natural Scene

Natural Scene

Historical Site

Historical Site

Historical Relic

Historical Relic

Shanhaiguan Pass is a small town and port of the northern Bohai gulf and it is 15 kilometers from the tourist city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei province. Because it is located between the Yanshan Mountains and the Bohai Sea, people call it Shanhaiguan.

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