Juyongguan Great Wall

Juyongguan or Juyonguan Pass is located in an 18 kilometer-long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than 50 kilometers from Beijing City. It is the nearest section of the Great Wall to Beijing, and is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China. The other two passes are Jiayuguan Pass and Shanhai Pass. JuYongGuan Pass was connected into the Great Wall of China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. JuYongGuan had many different names in the past; however, the name JuYongGuan Pass was used by more than 3 dynasties. It was first used in the Qin Dynasty when Emperor QinShiHuang gave the orders to build the Great Wall of China.

Actually, JuYongGuan Great Wall actually has 2 passes, one at the south and one at the north. The south one is called "Nan Pass" (what we now call JuYongGuan) and the north one is called BaDaLing.

In the middle of Juyongguan Pass, there is a "Cloud Platform" with another name of "Crossing Street Tower". It was made of white marble in the Yuan Dynasty with a height of 9.5 meters. Around the top of the platform there are many architectures such as stone railings and a watching post. They are still kept in the style of the Yuan Dynasty. In the middle of the base of the platform there is an arched door where men, horses and carriages could pass through. Many animal images were carved in the arched hole and the arched door. On the walls of both sides of the door, the statues of gods and scriptures are carved. There were three white towers on the platform in the past (this is how it got the name of "Crossing Street Tower") and were destroyed in the transitional period between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Later a Tai'an Temple was built on the platform but was later destroyed in the Qing Dynasty.

The present JuYongGuan Great Wall was initially built in the Ming dynasty and received much renovation later. It is a very important strategic place connecting the inner China and the area near the northern border. JuYongGuan Great Wall was also of great defensive importance for Beijing city.

Because there are lush flowers and trees around the JuYongGuan Pass, like layers of green, it has received the name of “Juyong Green Layers”, which is famous as one of the “Beijing Eight Best Sceneries”.