I toured the ancient city walls of Datong today, marveling at the grandeur of the architecture

The ancient city walls of Datong Let's learn about a magnificent and spectacular ancient city wall today, the ancient city wall of Datong, located in the central area of Datong city. It is one of the more complete ancient city wall constructions existing in our country. The history of Datong's city construction is long-standing. According to historical records, as early as when it served as the capital for the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei dynasty, a grand-scale city wall had already been built. The existing city wall was expanded in the fifth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty by the great general Xu Da, based on the foundations of the old cities from the Han, Wei, Tang, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties. It features the main city gate and the Yang, Yongtai, Qingyuan, and Wuding gates, as well as a series of military facilities such as a moat, drawbridge, watchtowers, arrow towers, moon towers, dry towers, lookout towers, corner towers, and command platforms. It is one of the more complete ancient city wall constructions existing in our country. Since 2008, due to the well-preserved rammed earth of the ancient city wall, restoration has been possible. 70% of the rammed earth walls underwent an overall restoration with bricks! Thanks to the comprehensive survey data and detailed photographic documentation by Liang Sicheng, and the remnants of the wall's foundation stones and the brickwork of the horse face foundations, a detailed basis for restoration was provided, ensuring the authenticity of the architecture. The restored Datong city wall is spectacular! Centered around the bastion, looking to the south and north sides, there are 6 protruding parts of the wall, commonly known as battlements. On top of each battlement, a wooden tower is built, known as a lookout tower. It is understood that in terms of the structure of the wall itself, adding battlements increases the rigidity of the wall body. From a military defense perspective, it also enhances the wall's ability to monitor, flank, and crossfire enemies attempting to scale the wall. The battlements not only add to the aesthetic and rhythm of the city wall but also make its shape more majestic and magnificent. The battlements of the Datong city wall protrude 13-15 meters from the wall's surface, with a width generally ranging from 17-25 meters, and the distance between battlements is 96-115 meters. Turning to the southern and northern ends of the east city wall, which are the southeast and northeast corners of the ancient city wall, there are also corner battlements. The corner battlements are slightly larger than the regular battlements, and each has a corner tower built on top, which is slightly taller than the lookout towers. Additionally, at a distance from the two corner battlements, a 12.5×12.5 meter 'command platform' is built on each side. The command platforms are brick-encased on all sides, the same height as the city wall, and connected by wooden bridges. This is a special feature of the defense system of the Datong city wall.