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
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