Menyuan Ancient City

　　   The city wall of Menyuan Ancient City is rectangular in shape, approximately 360 meters long from east to west and about 300 meters wide from north to south, with a remaining height of 11.7 meters, a base width of 30 meters, and a top width of 5–8 meters. The rammed earth layers are 10–12 centimeters thick. The city wall features battlements, each 12 meters wide, and a semi-circular barbican with a southern-facing gate. Near the city wall, there used to be a moat, but it has been filled in and replaced with residential buildings. Currently, there are no structures within the city. The old houses have long vanished, leaving only scattered fragments of tiles everywhere.

　　   According to the *New Annals of Xining Prefecture: Geography, Mountains and Rivers* and *Datong County Annals: Administrative History*, Menyuan Ancient City was built during the Song Dynasty and was named Datong City. The nearby Heimen River was also renamed Datong River after the city. The exact construction period is believed to be between 1099, when Song forces recaptured the Hehuang region, and 1125, when the Western Xia captured Menyuan. As for the reason behind the city’s destruction, local folklore tells of a massacre carried out by camel caravan merchants. It is a provincial-level cultural heritage protection site, and a stone protection marker erected by the People’s Government of Qinghai Province stands at the northwest corner of the city wall.

　　   In May 2013, it was designated and announced by the State Council as part of the seventh group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.