Hecang Fortress Guide

Hecang Fortress, normally known as 'Hecang City', is located in the Gobi Desert sixty kilometers northwest from Dunhuang. Hecang Fortress, hidden twenty kilometers form Yumenquan Pass, was built during the Western Han Dynasty as once a vital supply depot for the Chinese military. The armies that guarded the Yumenguan Pass, Yangguan Pass and the many forts and watchtowers in between which defended this hostile border, could not have stayed supplied without the presence of Hecang Fortress. It was built in Western Han Dynasty and has now been ranked in the provincial-level culture

relics protection units. Surrounded by the Gobi desert in the north and south, it is so concealed that it is difficult to find. In many dynasties, it served as a military depot of food and clothes for the soldiers. Now Hecang city has been one of the rare surviving military storages for tourists to review its history. Hecang city lies in a valley of Shule River. A big blue and clear lake which is as flat as a mirror is in the west of it, with the shore covered with vigorous bulrushes, red willows and liquorices, while everglades of immeasurable depth are in the east. It was named Hecang City for it was built on a natural land 2 meters higher than the lake near Shule River. There are three depots divided by two earth walls, each is 42.5 meters high and 6.7 meters wide. Several triangular holes, probably built for aeration, are equal in interval and seems symmetrical to those in the south wall. Hecang Fortress is the best preserved ancient large-scale fortress by the Great Wall in Northwest China.
Some Hecang guide information.           Location: 20 kilometers west from Yumenguan Pass           Opening hours: 8:00-17:00           Tickets: RMB30/Person           Contact number: +86 10 8596 8802

• The Mogao Grottoes
• Crescent Moon Lake
• Dunes of the Singing Sands
• Yumenguan Pass
• Hecang Fortress
• Great Wall of Han Dynasty
• Yangguan Pass
• Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park