The Ruins of Bajiao City

　　          Introduction           Bajiao City is located on a terrace where the Yangqu River and the Yangla River converge in the eastern part of the Ganjia Plain, in Gannan County. It was a key hub along the ancient Gansu–Qinghai trade route and a heavily contested military stronghold throughout various dynasties due to its strategic position amid the Central Plains regimes, Tuyuhun, Tubo, Western Xia, and the Silla Kingdom. Today, the ruins of Bajiao City remain largely intact. In 1981, it was designated as a Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Gansu Province.

　　      Bajiao City gets its name from its eight corner turrets, and its layout forms a hollow cross shape. The city wall stretches a total of 2,193.4 meters, or about 2.2 kilometers, enclosing an area of 300 mu (approximately 20 hectares). Surrounding the city are moats and outer fortifications, and there is an additional outer wall just outside the southern gate. Architecturally, the city is believed to have been built before the Tang Dynasty. Its unique design breaks away from the conventional square layout. Though sizable, the distances between its corners all fall within the effective range of bows and crossbows, allowing interlocking defensive lines — making the city easy to defend yet hard to attack.

　　      A wealth of artifacts has been excavated from Bajiao City, including metal coins from the Tang and Song Dynasties, bronze oxen, rectangular and strip bricks, as well as concave and flat tiles. Moreover, terraced fields abandoned in ancient times can be found across the surrounding plains, hills, and terraces — some even extending all the way to mountaintops. These remnants offer a glimpse into the region’s once-prosperous economy and dense population.

　　       Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province