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Great Wall outpost a towering achievement

2014-01-08 13:32 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Wang YuXia
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Red Stone or Hong Shi Gorge in Yulin is famous for red boulders and cliffs with carved calligraphy and ancient pictograms. — Zhu Shenshen

Red Stone or Hong Shi Gorge in Yulin is famous for red boulders and cliffs with carved calligraphy and ancient pictograms. — Zhu Shenshen

For connoisseurs of the Great Wall and ancient city walls around China, Yulin in Shaanxi Province is not to be missed. On the edge of the Ordos Desert, it's a gateway to exploration. Nearby is Red Stone Gorge filled with grottoes and sculpture.

The former frontier town of Yulin City in Northwest China is an undiscovered and largely unspoiled destination whose treasures include a famous watchtower and garrison on the Great Wall, well-preserved city walls, and the dramatic Red Stone Gorge of sculpture and grottoes.

Unlike Beijing and Xi'an, which also have city walls and parts of the Great Wall, Yulin in Shaanxi Province is not flooded with tourists or spoiled by excessive commercial and industrial development.

The city still contains a great deal of Chinese classical architecture, including the original city wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), some of which has been restored and is beautifully lighted at night. It also contains well-preserved Ming Dynasty temples.

In the nearby Great Wall, visitors can still see pieces that are carved with the characters for the five elements of the universe: gold, wood, water, fire and earth.

Zhenbei Terrace, the No. 1 Watchtower of the Great Wall, still stands in Yulin, 20 minutes drive north from the old town. Built during the Ming Dynasty, it's the largest troop fortress built on the entire Great Wall. Much has been restored, but some stones date back to the Qin Dynasty — over 2,200 years ago.

Also outside the city is the Red Stone Gorge, a canyon lined with grottoes of Buddhist and Taoist art, as well as engraved calligraphy on cliffs. Sunset in Red Stone Gorge is not to be missed. The canyon is where Wong Kar-wai filmed major scenes in "Ashes of Time" (1994).

The city also contains the ancient Lingxiao Tower pagoda near the south gate of the old town.

In addition to its archeology and history, Yulin's magic is its people and their relatively unspoiled, slow-paced life, due in large part to the city's relative isolation.

Though the total population is around 3.8 million, in the old town, people enjoy wandering and shopping in the old town and eating spicy leg of mutton washed down with iced beer late at night. Visitors from metropolitan China, cities like Shanghai and Beijing, are pleasantly surprised.

Yulin is described by author Peter Hessler in his famous book "River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze River" (2001), looking for the real life of the majority of Chinese people.

For most travelers, Yulin City is the gateway to Shaanbei (north of Shaanxi) region, the place to start exploring.

On the edge of the Ordos Desert, the city is near the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north, Shanxi Province to the east, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the west. All can be reached from Yulin in a three to five hour's drive. Though the region is arid, the area surrounding the city is green because of extensive tree planting to fight desertification.

From Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, home of the terra cotta warriors, it takes an hour's flight or an overnight train ride to reach Yulin. The city attracts photographers and individual travelers interested in history, folk culture and culinary specialties.

From Yulin it is easy to reach the red stone and lines in Jingbian County, the ancient castles in Shenmu County, and a temple built on the cliff beside the Yellow River in Jiaxian County.

Yulin connects major sites in the province, such as Yan'an and the Hukou Waterfalls.

Yulin City Wall

Emperors repeatedly restored Yulin city wall, which kept out invaders from the north, since it was first constructed in 1473 in the Ming Dynasty.

Because of outpost's relative isolation, the city wall was well preserved up to the 1950s and people could walk and ride bicycles along the broad top of the wall.

It stands around 12 meters high (compared with 11.6 meter of Beijing) and separate segments extend around 2 to 3 kilometers.

A protection policy is in place, but people can still see and touch the original Ming walls in the south, east and north. In the west, only sand and drumbling stone remain.

The best way to visit the city wall is to walk around the wall, observing and touching the bricks in the morning and afternoon.

At night, photographers can get great pictures of the wall using a tripod. At night, lights from the city wall, neighboring buildings and passing vehicles seem to blend ancient and modern times.

Opening hours and admission: open all day, admission free.

Yulin Old Town

Surrounded by the city walls, Yulin Old Town is a pedestrian area and a highlight of the visit.

It contains Ming Dynasty temples, six arched buildings across the main street, well preserved narrow lanes of hutong, with legends attached, as well as restaurants and shops.

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