The Great Wall in the territory of Langfang was built by the State of Yan, which was one of the seven major states during the Warring States Period. It renovated and expanded its embankment along the Yishui River to the south, turning it into a military defense fortification; hence the wall there was also called the “Yishui River Great Wall.” The southern Yan wall starts at present-day Zhangqingkou Village, Xiongxian County, crosses the Daqing River and enters the territory of Wen’an County, where it branches off toward the southeast and the southwest. The southeastern branch extends to Dacheng County and ends at Liuguxian Village; the southwest branch runs through the southeastern part of Wen’an County, crosses the eastern part of Dacheng County, and meets the southeastern branch at Liuguxian Village.

Then the wall extends southwest to Dongma Village, Dacheng County, where it terminates. Today, much of this part of the Great Wall is covered by embankments, roads and farmland. In Dacheng County, only ruins of part of the southeastern branch of the wall and of one beacon tower remain, while on the southwestern branch, only the ruins of three beacon towers, which are called yandun by the locals, remain.

There are two passes: The one halfway up the mountain, on the boundary line between Hebei and Shanxi provinces, was built in the Yuan Dynasty; the other one, on the mountaintop and belonging to Zuoquan County, Shanxi Province, was built in the Ming Dynasty. The gate, wall, soldiers’ barracks, parapet wall, and battle platform of the Yuan pass are all built of stone slabs. The gate is set up in the middle of the ridge, facing south. The eastern wall, on its right, is 93 m long, and the western wall, on its left, is 110 m long. Both stretches are about 2.5 m high. On the eastern side inside the gate are located the ruins of an oblong house facing south. This served as the soldiers’ barracks. Further up the ridge from the gate is a crescent-moon-shaped parapet wall made of stone. Further ahead still is a round, hollow battle platform. To the southeast of the gate there used to be another defense line of Huangzeguan Pass with a gateway, but this structure no longer exists.

The gate of the Ming pass built on the mountaintop was dismantled during the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976). The pass town, several hundred m to the west of the gate, is built in the shape of a gourd and enclosed by a rammed-clay wall. It has two gates, on the northern and southern sides, respectively. The southern gate has an arched brick doorway, while the northern gate is a brick-wood structure. On the lintel of the latter is a stone slab with an inscription meaning “Climb swiftly up to the clouds.” The gate towers – both dilapidated-have up-turned eaves. The stone path linking the north and south gates is still there. In recent years, eight broken stone tablets and a stone mortar for husking rice have been found in the town. Among these, the most valuable is a stone tablet recording the construction of the new pass and charting its surroundings.

Not far from the pass is the tomb of General Zuo Quan, deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, who died fighting the Japanese aggressors in 1942. Guyi Village in Wu’an City is well known for its Nuoxi, a local opera performed to drive away ghosts that bring diseases.

The fortifications of the pass, which is located on a col between two mountains, are built of irregular stone slabs. Only the base of the gate tower remains, together with about 100 m of the wall. On the southern part of the wall is a battle platform five m high, five m wide at the base and 4.5 m wide at the top. On its south side a flight of stone steps leads to the top.

There are many stories related to this ancient pass.

The three sections of the Great Wall within the territory of Handan belong to the Ming Inner Great Wall. The first section runs southeast along the border of Wu’an City and Shahe City, and ends at Shudaoyan Pass, Wu’an City. The second section starts at Mount Motioning on the border between Zuoquan, Shanxi Province, and Wu’an City, stretches southward along the Taihang Mountains, goes through Junjiguan and Huangzeguan passes, and enters Shexian County. The third section goes southward to Maolingdi, on the border between Shanxi and Hebei, and into Licheng County in Shanxi. A decrepit section of the wall can be found to the west of Xiangtangpu Village, Shexian County, on the border between Shanxi and Hebei. It is a branch wall of Dongyangguan Pass, Licheng County, Shanxi Province. Much of the Great Wall in Handan takes advantage of natural cliffs and other barriers. The surviving parts of the wall, built of stones or of rammed earth and encased with bricks and stones, total 2.3 km. Along the wall, five pass towns, 15 battle plat-forms and beacon towers are located.

The Annals of Shunde Prefecture records that the Zhiguoling pass town used to have walls; iron gates embrasures watchtowers, a government office and a barracks. The pass fortifications are located on a narrow and level place with steep cliffs in the west and abysses in the south and east. The Great Wall starts at the top of the cliffs in the northwest, stretching 13 m to reach the northwest corner, the highest point of the town. In a series of nine steps, the wall bends to the east and then to the southeast, and terminates at overhanging cliffs facing an abyss.lt is 150 m long, three-five m high, three m wide at the base and 2.5 m wide at the top. Along the top of the wall are battlements with embrasures for discharging arrows. The whole wall is built of stone slabs pointed with lime.

The gate of the pass, a six-m-wide gray stone arched doorway in the middle of the wall, faces northeast. On the lintel is a stone slab inscribed with characters meaning “Zhiguoling Strategic Pass.” The gate tower is still imposing, despite some deterioration.

At the left and right inner sides of the gate are two houses constructed of irregular stone slabs. They housed both the soldiers and the civilians who guarded the pass. The area had been uninhabited, but later a village called Yingfangtai (Barrack Terrace) grew up there. Jiangshui Township, to which Zhiguoling Pass belongs, is an ancient town. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), Commander-in-Chief of the Eight Route Army Zhu De, General Liu Bocheng and other high-ranking officers worked and lived there. The sites of the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese Military and Political College and the border area government offices can be found there.

According to historical records, Heduling Pass had a crescent-moon-shaped town wall, 166.5m long and 8.3m high. The wall’s gate tower bore a stone slab carrying an inscription meaning “Trail of town is like an eagle spreading its wing to guard this strategic spot, where “one man can hold out against ten thousand.” Inscriptions caved on the cliffs mean “Natural barrier lasting ten thousand years” and “Trail of an immortal riding a white crane across the mountain.

The Hedeling Pass area is renowned for the production of fresh and dried fruits. Here in spring peach and apricot trees blossom all over the fields; in summer the air is permeated with braches; and in winter the fields covered with snow present magnificent northern scenery. Nearby ,there is a temple dedicated to the famous doctor Bian Que (c.407-c.310BC),cypress trees dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and an opera stage dating from the Qing Dynasty.

The Great Wall within the territory of Xingtai is part of the Inner Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, and was under the jurisdiction of the Zhenbao Defense Command. The wall enters Neiqiu County from Shijiazhuang, extends southward along the border of Neiqiu and Xiyang counties, Shanxi Province, and the border between Heshun County, Shanxi Province, and Xingtai County, Hebei Province, and enters the area of Shahe City. It continues its journey ajong the border between Shahe and Wu’an City, and then reaches Shudaoyan Pass, the terminal of the wall under the jurisdiction of the Zhenbao Defense Command. Much of the wall in Xingtai makes use of natural cliffs. The surviving wall built of stones is about four km in length. Twelve beacon towers still exist, with access via stone steps.

The wall here, 1.5 km in length, runs from northwest to southeast. It is 3.5 m high, four m wide at the base and l.6 m wide at the top. Due to its strategic importance, the Ming Dynasty laid great stress on its construction. As a result, it was carefully designed and built, and heavily guarded. On the inner side of the wall, a 1.8 m-high, 0.2 m-thick additional stone wall was built as a second line of defense. The 360-m-long southeast portion of the wall is uniquely designed and constructed. The body of the wall is shorter and narrower than the other parts, but its inner side is built into a slope, making the wall stronger. The construction of the fortification adopts the staggered-joint bond and fully utilizes the advantages of the terrain, making it an ironclad defense line.

Because the Didu Great Wall functioned as a shield to the Niangziguan Pass only three km to the west in Shanxi Province, many distinguished generals were stationed here in the Ming and Qing times, and a host of legends and stories about them have been handed down to this very day.

The Great Wall here is preserved almost in its entirety. The gate tower of the pass, 34 m long and six m wide, is at the mouth of Longhuang Gully, 500 m southeast of the village, facing east and connecting with the wall at its northern and southern ends. Beneath the six-m wide and 6.7-m high overpass, the arched gateway is built of polished gray stone slabs reinforced with iron rods, and has a stone block that supports the pivot of the door and a hole for the door bolt.

About one km south of the gate is the summit of the mountain, on which a four-m-high square beacon tower stands. It is built of crude rocks. On its western side are three flights of stone stairs leading to the top. From the top one can see the magnificent Niangziguan Pass 20 km away in Shanxi Province. Some 500 m northeast of the gate of the pass is a similar beacon tower. These two beacon towers are just like two generals guarding the gate.

About 300 m from the gate of the pass is a cave about eight m wide and 10 m deep. It is said that this cave, enlarged by chiseling a natural cave, accommodated the soldiers and laborers who built the pass in the Ming Dynasty. Two inscriptions on the wall indicate that the laborers were from various parts of the country, and lived a hard life.

About 3.5 km northwest of the Andi Great Wallis another important pass on the Ming Great Wall-Luqiaogou Pass, also known as Luqiaoguan. This pass, located two km north of Guiquan Village Jingxing County, is also built of gray slab stones. This pass has not been maintained.

The wall stands at the foot of Mount Zajiao, measuring 314 m in length and 2.6 m in height. Its body is encased with gray stones and limestone, its interior being filled with clay and stones and capped with clay. At the center and the south end of the wall are two battle platforms in a凸 shape. They are 3.5 m high and also built of limestone and gray stones. About 200 m north of the village there is a gate of the pass built in the Qing Dynasty. It is an arched doorway built of stone slabs. Above it are two stone plaques carrying inscriptions meaning “impregnable” and “Guangluo Bridge:’ which were inscribed in 1863 and 1886, respectively.

To the west of the gate stands a 4.9-m-high square beacon tower. Its outside is built of stone slabs, its interior filled with clay and stones, and its top capped with flagstones. Together with the Wall and battle platform, it is still in good shape.

Mount Xiantai Scenic Area, covering 60 sq km, boasts beautiful mountain ranges, lime-stone caves, forests, springs, ravines, and more than 100 historical and cultural relics. The latter include the Liu Xiu (6 BC-AD 57), founder of the Eastern Han Dynasty) Cave, a Tang (618-907) stone pillar inscribed with Buddhist scriptures, and the command post of the Hundred-Regiment Campaign (a large-scale offensive launched by the Eighth Route Army against the Japanese aggressors from August 20 to December 5, 1940, in which over 100 regiments of the former took part).