The Great Wall On The Cliff

The Suspended Wall is a part of the Great Wall.  The wall here was built on the ridge with the gradient of 45 degrees. It is high in the air and it looks as if it fell down from the top of the hill. So people refer to this section of the Great Wall as the "Suspended Wall". The Suspended Wall, the extension of the walls at the Jiyuguan Pass towards the north, was an integral part of the ancient defense system at the Jiayuguan Pass.

The wall, whose construction was started in 1539, was made of gravel and yellow earth by tamping. It was originally 1.5 km long, but now it is only 750 meters long. It was renovated in 1987 and there are now 3 towers, two at the ends of the wall, and one in the middle.

For the convenience of climbing, steps was built on the wall. Even though, it is still hard for visitor to make it to the top through the 400 steps. But it is worth the painstaking efforts when visitors look afar on the top. The scenery is peculiar: the deserts extending to the horizon, with a few oases in it. People feel isolation and detachment from the noisy cities at first. They also feel the liveliness when they see the oases.  Under such harsh natural conditions, people struggle to live on generation after generation.

How to Get to there?