[2025 Jiayuguan Attraction] Travel Guide for Xincheng Mural Tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties (Updated Feb)

There are three main places to visit in Jiayuguan: the Jiayuguan Fortress, the Overhanging Great Wall, and the First Pier of the Great Wall. The Overhanging Great Wall is about 7 km from the Jiayuguan Fortress, and is the furthest of the three must-see attractions. It hangs in the air on the ridge and was restored in 1987. The wall is narrow (like an ancient stockade gate) and the mountain is not high, so you can enjoy a panoramic view of the northwest. The First Pier of the Great Wall is the starting point of the Ming Great Wall. After years of weathering, only a mound of earth remains. Next to it is the Taolai River Valley, where the desert, canyon, and river are all spectacular. The Jiayuguan Fortress is located between the two attractions and is the most popular of the three. With the Qilian Mountains to the left and the Heishan Mountains to the right, the fortress is surrounded by a vast desert. The gate stands alone, facing northwest towards Chang'an. [Jiayuguan Fortress Tour Route] Enter through the East Gate → Stele Gallery → City Wall → Wenchang Pavilion → Guandi Temple → Theater → Chaozong Gate → General's Mansion → Yanshi → Horse Road → Climb the City Wall → Guanghua Tower → South Enemy Tower → Corner Tower → Huiji Gate → Jiayuguan Gate → Xiongguan Stele. [Jiayuguan Fortress Photo Spots] 1. Xiongguan Octagonal Pavilion. 2. Rammed Earth Wall (on the wall and in the pavilion). 3. Guanghua Tower. 4. Rouyuan Gate. 5. Jiayuguan Gate. 6. Jiayuguan Fortress at sunset. 7. The Great Wall of China - Jiayuguan Stele outside the fortress. 8. 200 meters to the right (towards the North Gate) after exiting the West Gate (Snow Mountain Fortress). [Travel Tips] 1. Tickets are CNY 110 (including Jiayuguan Fortress, Overhanging Great Wall, and First Pier of the Great Wall). If you are short on time, choose between the Overhanging Great Wall and the First Pier of the Great Wall. 2. If you are not driving, it is recommended to take a taxi. A car for four people to visit the three attractions costs CNY 200 per day, which is very cost-effective. You can also take the direct bus to the scenic area, which costs CNY 35 and must be purchased separately. The bus runs every half hour and includes round-trip transportation to the three attractions. 3. You need to take a shuttle bus (CNY 12 per person) to the First Pier of the Great Wall. Visit the underground museum first, then go to the viewing platform to see the Taolai River Canyon, where the snowmelt from the Qilian Mountains still flows. 4. If you have time, it is recommended to visit the Jiayuguan Xincheng Wei-Jin Tombs (tickets are CNY 31). There are more exhibits than in Dunhuang. The Postman Picture (the earliest image of a postman) is the symbol of China Post (the statue in front of Jiayuguan Railway Station). Take public transportation from the city center to the bus stop opposite the Wei-Jin Tombs.

| How to Make the Most of Your Visit (Part 2). Following the previous article 📍📍【Xincheng Wei-Jin Dynasties Brick Wall Painting Tombs】✔️ ⏰Opening Hours: 8:30-20:00 💰Ticket Price: 31 yuan (purchase at the scenic area) 🚙Transportation: Chartered car, self-driving, or taxi (book return trip in advance, otherwise it might be hard to find one) 💡Located about 18 kilometers from Jiayuguan city in Xincheng Town, it is a tomb complex from the Wei-Jin period with over a thousand tombs 💡The attraction is quite niche, so niche that you might not have heard of it, but mentioning that the postman image on the Postal Savings Bank card was unearthed here might ring a bell (the original is in the provincial museum) 💡At the entrance of the tomb chamber, there will be a cultural management staff member to lead you in. When I went, I was the only visitor, so I shamelessly asked many questions, and in the end, they simply gave me a guided tour, for which I am very grateful 💡144 brick paintings depicting agriculture, banquets, animal husbandry, hunting, cooking, showcasing the life of the noble class in the Hexi region at the time (saw a lot of ancient barbecue) ✅The tombs are on a Gobi desert, from afar they look like desolate little mounds. Currently, Tomb No. 7 is only open for research and monitoring, and only Tomb No. 6 is open to tourists ✅Most of the burial goods have been stolen, and there are few exhibits. The main thing to see is the brick paintings inside the tomb chamber (photography is prohibited inside the tomb, the picture is of a replica exhibit in the exhibition hall) ✅Next to the tomb chamber, there's a cultural and creative shop where you can buy hand-painted brick paintings, one kind made from the original bricks of the tomb chamber (80-120 yuan/piece), and another kind made from ordinary clay (20 yuan/piece). The paintings on both materials are said to be hand-drawn by students from the China Academy of Art in 1988, and as one is sold, there's one less, so don't miss out❗️ 🌟If you're not interested in brick paintings, I don't recommend going out of your way, firstly because public transportation is inconvenient, and secondly because the area is really desolate. But if you're interested in culture, I highly recommend it (I joined a carpool for a one-day tour of three Jiayuguan attractions + Wei-Jin Tombs for 160 yuan, and since there was no one else, it turned into a private tour for me, which was very comfortable) 📍📍【Jiayuguan City Museum】✔️ ⏰Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:00 💰Ticket Price: Free 💡Located in Jiayuguan city, it's a very technologically advanced museum, mainly displaying the history and culture of Jiayuguan, local customs, and urban construction, especially the process of the people of Jiayuguan building an oasis city from scratch in the desert, which is very touching 🌟To further understand the city of Jiayuguan, visit the City Museum 🍭Food 🔸Barbecue, you must have a meal of roasted lamb, it's really delicious❗️ 🔸Min Jie noodles, although it's a Shaanxi cuisine, if you haven't tried it, you definitely should, it's full of ritual 🔸Steamed pancake, it's not a pancake, it looks like cold skin noodles, very thin, and like Min Jie noodles, it's also an intangible cultural heritage food ✅Jiayuguan is named after the pass, and the city was built because of the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company ✅On the way to the Wei-Jin Tombs, the driver told me about the intricate relationship between Jiayuguan and the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company. We drove through avenues shaded by green willows, past vineyards heavy with fruit, until we reached the desolation of the Gobi desert, making the city of Jiayuguan even more three-dimensional❗️ After finishing the barbecue, I ended my one-day tour of Jiayuguan and took a high-speed train overnight to the last stop—Dunhuang (I will continue to share travel tips for the Hexi Corridor in the next article)

In the tomb of the Wei and Jin murals, there is a national treasure that everyone has seen in the underground of Jiayuguan, Jiuquan and Dunhuang in the Hexi Corridor, buried thousands of ancient tombs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Many of these Weijin tombs are painted with exquisite murals and are known as "the world's largest underground gallery." The "smuggling map" unearthed in the No. 5 tomb became the "image ambassador" of China Post, and truly became the national treasure of "flying into the homes of ordinary people." Currently the official Wei Jin mural tombs are open to the public, and the No. 6 tomb we visited is one of them. The mural tomb consists of two parts: the tomb and the museum. Let's go to the museum to learn about the history of the place and the grave. Out of the museum, 2 minutes drive to the real tombs. In line with the introduction of the text, the No. 6 tomb we are going to visit is hidden under the raised earthen bag. The entrance to the ground of the tomb is the inconspicuous small bungalow in front of us. Tomb No. 6 is a tomb for husband and wife in the front, middle and back rooms. The building structure is that the tomb door is facing east, and the entrance is quickly turned to the south. A slope of 20 meters, a slope of 2 meters, and three tombs are excavated at a 45 degree slope, and then built with dry bricks. There are 136 murals in each room. The folk life has a wide range of subjects, involving many aspects of ancient life and production. It should be the epitome of the life of the tomb. The color paintings like bricks reflect the life of the tomb owner from a diligent nomadic lord who gradually cultivated, traded to the fortune and eventually became rich, and stepped into the path of being promoted to an official; it reflected the good wishes of the ancients to die.