Yanchi Prohibited Wall

Yanchi Prohibited Wall

The Yanchi Prohibited Wall is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Yanchi Prohibited Wall and Yuban Ancient Salt Road: from Muhe Village in Dongguo Town, Yanhu District to Pingtoupu at the southern boundary of Zhangdian Town, Pinglu County, on the northern foothills of the Zhongtiao Mountains

The Yanchi Salt Lake is one of the oldest salt lakes in China. According to the Commentary on the Water Classic, “The lake stretches 70 li from east to west and 17 li from north to south.” To prevent salt theft and protect tax revenues, during the Tang Dynasty, a prohibited wall (also called the prohibited enclosure) was built around a perimeter of one hundred and twenty li of the salt lake. It was repaired during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and most of the existing prohibited wall structures date back to the Qing Dynasty. Today, the main body of the wall has largely been destroyed, but remnants of the wall still stand along the undulating terrain. The section of the wall from the Salt God Temple to the Second Salt Chemical Plant and the section from the plant to Jiezhou are relatively well-preserved.