The Ancient City Wall of Wen'an

The Ancient City Wall of Wen'an

The Ancient City Wall of Wen'an is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Ancient City Wall of Wen'an, with a history of 1,500 years, is one of the more well-preserved ancient cities in northern China and is listed as a county-level cultural heritage site. The existing city wall is rectangular in shape (longer from east to west and shorter from north to south), stretching 1,275 zhang and 5 chi around the perimeter, equivalent to seven li and one fen, or approximately 3.6 kilometers. The wall is 2 zhang and 5 chi high (about eight meters). The thickness of the wall exceeds its height, making it solid as a mountain. The Ancient City Wall of Wen'an was entirely built around a "defense" strategic system. The wall is wide enough for chariots to drive on and for military drills. The wall structure was made with a mixture of lime, tung oil, and rice soup, creating an extremely sturdy fortification that has stood firmly for thousands of years without damage. The ancient city wall includes a series of military facilities such as a moat, drawbridge, gate tower, arrow tower, main tower, corner towers, watchtowers, artillery platforms, crenels, and parapets. There are five city gates: the eastern gate called “Ying’en Gate” (Gate of Welcoming Grace), the western gate called “Yongding Gate” (Gate of Eternal Stability), the southern gate called “Laixun Gate” (Gate of Fragrant Breeze), the northern gate called “Gongchen Gate” (Gate of Revering the North Star), and the small southern gate called “Zuoxin Gate” (Gate of Renewal).