 |
| Yumenguan Pass |
|
Yumenguan Pass, located on a hillock 90kms northwest of Dunhuang city,
is an important pass of the north route on the Silk Road. After Zhangqian
served as an envoy to the West Region, a mass of silk and tea from
Central China were exported abroad through this pass, and in return,
fruit, specialties and religion culture were brought in.
Yumenguan Pass was also called "Small Square City". The
present city was constructed with rammed earth with two gates respectively
in its west and north directions. The wall is 10 meters high and
its top is 3 meters wide and bottom 5 meters.
Why was the name "Small Square City" replaced by "Yumenguan
Pass"? Legend had said that a jade was set on the gate of "Small
Square City" for the sake of ensuring the security of passing
trade caravans. So the city was named as "Yumenguan Pass"
since then. |
|
