Yumenguan Travel Guide

Yumenguan lies about 100 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang. It was an access by the Silk Road southward through Gansu Province, and also a gateway for the people in the North China Plain to enter the areas to the west of Yumen Pass. Its name came from the fact that jade from Hotan in Xinjiang entered Central China through this pass.

Yumen Pass has a history of more than two thousand years. Early in the Western Han (206 BC-24 AD), there are two passes constructed: Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass to defend and manage the western frontier. Hence, the Yumen Pass became one of the most important passes in the western frontier during that period.

Covering 633 square meters (about 0.16 acre) the current Yumen Pass is a rectangular castle. It is 24.5 meters (about 80 feet) in length, 26.4 meters (about 87 feet) width, and 9.7 meters (about 32 feet) in height. It was built with rammed earth that required sophisticated workmanship.