Juyong Pass

Juyong Guan
居庸关
Chuyungkwan
Aerial view of Juyong Pass
Juyong Guan Location within China
Traversed by	G6, G110
Third Approach
Location	Changping District, Beijing, China
Coordinates	40.2882°N 116.0686°E / 40.2882; 116.0686
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	居庸关
Traditional Chinese	居庸關
Postal	Chuyungkwan
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jūyōng guān Wade–Giles Chü1-yung1 kuan1 IPA [tɕý.jʊ́ŋ kwán] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gēui-yùhng gwāan Jyutping Geoi1-jung4 gwaan1 Southern Min Tâi-lô Ki-iông kuan (col.) Ku-iông kuan (lit.)

Juyong Pass (Chinese: 居庸关; pinyin: Jūyōng guān) is a mountain pass located in the Changping District of Beijing Municipality, over 50 kilometers (31 mi) from central Beijing. The Great Wall of China passes through, and the Cloud Platform was built here in the year 1342.

Mountain pass

Geography

View of the Great Wall at Juyong Pass

Juyong Pass is in the 18-kilometer (11 mi)-long Guangou Valley. During the Ming dynasty restoration and expansion of the Great Wall of China, it was one of the "Three Inner Passes" (t 内三關, s 内三关, Nèisānguān) from Mongolia to Beijing, along with Daoma Pass and Zijing Pass. Juyong Pass has two 'sub-passes', one at the valley's south and the other in the north. The southern one is called "Nan (pass)" and the northern one "Badaling".

History

The name Jūyōng guān was first used in the Qin dynasty, when Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the building of the Great Wall. Juyong Pass was connected to the wall in the Northern and Southern dynasties era.

The present pass route was built in the Ming dynasty and received much renovation later. It was a strategic location connecting the inner lands and the northern borders of the nation.

Cloud Platform

Main article: Cloud Platform at Juyongguan

Cloud Platform at Juyong Pass

History

In the middle of Juyong Pass and the Guangou Valley is located the "Cloud Platform" gate, also known as the "Crossing Street Tower". It was built in 1342, during the Yuan dynasty, and is made of white marble with a height of 9.5 metres (31 ft). There were originally three white pagodas atop the platform. They were each destroyed in the transitional period between the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. During the early Ming dynasty, a Buddhist temple hall was built on the platform. It was destroyed in 1702, during the Qing dynasty.

See also

• Juyongguan railway station
• Operation Chahar
• Chinese architecture

External links

Media related to Juyong Pass at Wikimedia Commons