I think everyone is familiar with
The Great Wall (one of the seven wonders in the world) which needs no further intro. The mostly visited great wall area would be the
Badaling Great Wall in Beijing. :)
But not many knows regarding the Jiayuguan Pass or Jiayuguan Great Wall (嘉峪关) in Gansu Province.
Taken at the Jiayuguan Museum ~ the plan of the miniature Jiayuguan Great Wall prior to visiting the real place.
Among the passes on the Great Wall, Jiayuguan Great Wall is the most intact surviving ancient military building. It is
the last pass at the furthest west of the Great Wall of China. On the other hand, you can consider it as
the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall.
Jiayuguan Great Wall, here I come :)
Those who are interested, can rent the plated armour suit :)
Majestic architecture ~ The wall and tower of the Jiayuguan Pass.
Mystical creatures (?dragon) on the roof top.
Jiayuguan Pass or Great Wall was built during Ming Dynasty in 1372. The pass is also known as "The First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven" (天下第一雄关).
Entering the interior of the pass :)
Two different pathway leading to the tower (Steep pathway vs staircase). Those who are adventurous can walk up via the steep pathway (with the risk of falling down).
*Trying to imagine the ancient days*
And this part of the great wall is not as crowded as the one in Badaling, Beijing. :)
If u wanna lepas geram, u can do it here... The Archery corner. *Shoot* :)
It's kinda hot walking under the hot sun.. I wanna drink iced lemon tea.. or Cola :P
The pass covers an area of more than 33,500 square meters.
Majestic leh the architecture :)
Part of the ancient Great Wall :)
The tower taken from different angle.
According to legend, when the Jiayuguan Pass was planned, the officer asked the designer to estimate the exact number of bricks required and the designer gave him a number. The officer questioned his judgment, asking him if that would be enough, so the designer added one brick. When Jiayuguan was completed, there was
one brick leftover, which was placed on one of the gates where it remains till today. Did u notice the extra brick? If u didn't see it, look again closely at the above picture (or u can enlarge the picture by clicking on it). Give yourself a pat on the shoulder if you manage to find it. :)
Another shot of the mystical creature on the roof top.
Cantik leh the wall. Time to bid farewell... :)
Addendum :
To those who still cannot see the extra brick in the above picture, hopefully u can view it here. If u still not able to see it, then i dunno what to say liao :P
Even the road is known as the Giant Buddha Temple Lane in Chinese language (or DaFoSi Xiang)
Peaceful street.. Any idea why they painted the bottom part of the tree trunk white?
Wall painting of the 八仙过海 (Eight immortals crossing the sea) opposite the temple :)
Entrance to The Giant Buddha Temple
Part of the temple is still under renovation, hence dusty. But the place is still open to visitors, with the condition "Enter at your own risk" ;)
I didn't take any photos inside the temple since photography is prohibited. But many still busily snapping away (as there are no guards watching), but I didn't snap any photo inside. The above picture is the photo of the Giant Buddha placed at the entrance. The whole Buddha is 34.5 meters in length, width of 7.5 meters between the shoulders, feet of 4 meters and ears of 2 meters. Huge leh... We are like midgets when standing next to it :)
(Photo courtesy of Gansu Tourism Site).
Part of the Temple.
I like to zoom in when taking photo, for a better view of the workmanship of the little sculptures on the roof top.
Can admire every fine and single details of the perfectly done craftwork, which are oftenly overlooked and neglected by many.
And *ahem*, not forgetting my obsession with doors and door knobs :)
One more... I promise it's the last one for the day :P
