History: Jiayuguan City, with a history of more than 600 years, is an important city of tourism on the ancient Silk Road. It used to be an important pass in ancient times. In ancient times, many inns were built near the pass. Gradually, more and more people decided to stay there for business and Jiayuguan City was built.
Climate: Jiayuguan has a very dry climate for the direct sunshine and little rainfall. It also has four distinct seasons. Winter and summer have huge temperature difference. Sand storms can be a problem, with the wind sometimes reaching speeds of 3m/sec. The best time to visit Jiayuguan and the ancient Silk Road is from May to October.
Transportation: It is very convenient to get to the city and leave it. The transportation networks of airlines, railway, and highways have been established. There are five weekly flights from Lanzhou and Dunhuang to Jiayuguan, not flying on Tuesday and Saturday. There are also infrequent flights to Xian and Urumqi.
The Jiayuguan railway station is an important one in the Lanzhou to Xinjiang Railway. There are nine passenger trains passing through the city, which can carry you to Urumqi, Lanzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Chengdu and Xian.
The 312 National Highway, linking Lanzhou in the east and Urumqi in the west, goes across the district of Jiayuguan City. There are highways extending northwards to the port to Mongol and southwards to Gulmud City in Qinghai Province.
Local Specialties: Stone inkslab, Luminous cup, Fresco of Wei-Jin Dynasty
Local Food: Steam beef and mutton, Hongzun fish
Major Attractions:
Jiayuguan Pass ¨C Jiyuguan pass is the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall of China. Along with Juyongguan pass and Shanhaiguan Pass, it is one of the main passes of the Great Wall. It is trapezoidshaped with a perimeter of 733 meters and an area of more than 33,500 square meters. The total length of the city wall is 733 meters and the height is 11 meters.
Wei-Jin Mural Tombs ¨C Also named ˇ°Underground Art Galleryˇ±, Wei-Jin Mural Tomb is a big tomb group with over 1, 400 tombs built between the 3rd century and 5th century during the Wei and Dynasties. It houses a great deal of colorful murals, the gallery. Most tombs are of families, housing bodies of three or four generations, and now only Grave 6 and Grave 7 are open for tourism.
Suspension Great Wall ¨C 11kms to the downtown Jiayuguan City, the Suspension Great Wall was built on the ridge with the gradient of 45 degrees hence the name. From a distance, it is saide to resemble a dragon to extend its body towards the ground.
