Great Wall - Jugongguan Pass

Jugongguan Pass begins 50km/30mi northwest of Beijing, extends for over 20km/12.5 through a valley and ends 5km/3mi from Badaling. At one time the pass was strategically very important as it safeguarded the northern approach to Beijing. The fortress here dates from the 14th C. The Terrace of the Clouds (Yuntai), built of marble C. 1345, measures 10m/33ft high, 27m/89ft long and 18m/59ft wide, and once had three towers and later a temple. Today it boasts an arched gateway decorated with reliefs of deities, guardians of the heavens and mythological animals as well as Buddhist inscriptions in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongolian. the Xixia language, Uigur and Chinese.