Hecang City

Hecang City, commonly known as "fangpan city", is located in the Gobi Desert 90km northwest of Dunhuang. It was built in the Western Han Dynasty. Until the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it has been an important Quartermaster warehouse for Grain Reserve of the Great Wall frontier defense. From today's window wall, we can still imagine the magnificence of the building. With the desolate and vast Gobi scenery and the historic architectural remains, the films here have a stronger sense of history and desolation.

Hecang city south to north, rammed earth version built, was rectangular. It is about 132 meters long from east to west and 17 meters wide from north to south. The highest part of the remnant wall is 6.7 meters. There are two walls in the north-south direction in the city, which divide it into three equal warehouses side by side. Each warehouse opens to the south. Most of the four walls have collapsed, but the north wall is relatively complete. There are small triangular holes on the wall, three on the top and five on the bottom, with equal spacing, which may be wind energy facilities. There are two walls on the East, West and north sides of the periphery. The first one is still broken, with broken walls and mounds at the four corners. The second is the northern mound.

Hecang City

Hecang City, commonly known as dafangpan City, was built in the Western Han Dynasty. It is located in the Gobi Desert 60 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang and 15 kilometers west of Yumenguan (xiaofangpan city).

Hecang city is located in the depression beside the East-West Shule River ancient road, 50 meters to the West. It is a big lake, smooth as a mirror, blue and transparent, with reeds, red willows and licorice growing on the bank. To the East, it is a deep marsh. Hecang city is built on a platform about 3 meters above the lake. Because it is near Shule River, it is called hecang city. In the north and south there is a big Gobi embrace which is several feet higher than the castle, which makes hecang city extremely hidden. It's hard to find this warehouse city without coming to it. Thus, it can be seen that the ancients chose this place to build a military depot after careful investigation, design and construction. There are also several beacons guarding Cangcheng in the Gobi desert, just like the eyes of a castle, where they look out warily.

Hecang city south to north, rammed earth version built, was rectangular. It is about 132 meters long from east to west and 17 meters wide from north to south. The highest part of the remnant wall is 6.7 meters. There are two walls in the north-south direction in the city, which divide it into three equal warehouses side by side. Each warehouse opens to the south. Most of the four walls have collapsed, but the north wall is relatively complete. There are small triangular holes on the wall, three on the top and five on the bottom, with equal spacing, which may be wind energy facilities. There are two walls on the East, West and north sides of the periphery. The first one is still broken, with broken walls and mounds at the four corners. The second is the northern mound.

Historical evolution

Hecang city is an important depot for military supplies in Yumenguan area and even in the western border defense line from the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties (104 BC to 420 AD).

According to the inscriptions of the Han bamboo slips and the stone tablets of the Western Jin Dynasty excavated here by the British Stein and the Chinese historian and archaeologist Yan Wenru, hecang city has been an important military depot for the Great Wall's border defense from the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The officers and soldiers guarding Yumen pass, Yangguan pass, the Great Wall, Fengsui pass and returning from the west to the East all receive food, clothing and fodder from this warehouse to ensure their strong fighting capacity. Therefore, hecang city is an ancient, large-scale and rare Quartermaster warehouse that has been preserved in the frontier defense of the Great Wall in Northwest China.

Tourism information

From Dunhuang to Yumenguan, after a section of national highway, turn into an asphalt path through the Gobi desert. The road condition is good and there are few vehicles. Along the way, you need to buy tickets to enter Yumenguan scenic area, because hecang city is one of Yumenguan scenic spots. In the parking lot of Yumenguan scenic spot, Shizi Road on the left leads to the Han Great Wall Ruins, about 2km, very close; on the right, Shizi road leads to hecang City, about 11km, but Shizi road is only three or four kilometers long, followed by flat asphalt pavement.

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natural resources

Rhubarb, plant name: Rheum palmatum. Production status: rhubarb is suitable to grow in the semi shady hillside area with an altitude of 1700-2500 meters. The cultivation of Huating rhubarb began in the Ming Dynasty, with big block and good redness as the top grade. In the 1960s, it was exported to Southeast Asia, Italy and other countries. In recent years, it is mainly sold to coastal areas. Output and output value: the planting area of Rhubarb in the county is 6000 mu, the yield per mu is 200 kg, the yield is 1200 tons, 4000 yuan per ton, and the output value is 4.8 million yuan. Main ingredients: emodin, chrysophanol, rhein, aloe emodin. Efficacy: heat clearing, diarrhea, stomach strengthening, cholagogic, anti-tumor.

Address: in the Gobi desert, 60 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang City, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, 20 kilometers west of Yumenguan (xiaofangpan city)

Longitude: 93.9639

Latitude: 40.411188

Tour time: 1 hour

Traffic information: it costs about 300 yuan to charter a car from the city

Ticket information: within 40 yuan of the through ticket (package ticket includes Yumen pass, Han great wall and hecang city)

Opening hours: all day