Jiayuguan Fort and the Western Great Wall

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Jiayuguan Fort was originally built in 1372 and was considered the last major stronghold of imperial China and was very important for the silk road. It's also the western end of the Great Wall (pretty amazing that it goes from here all the way to Beijing and beyond to the east coast). This was the first place where we saw the Great Wall. To be honest, it wasn't quite what we expected, the parts we saw of it were fairly recently restored, so they didn't seem all that authentic. The fort was interesting, but we almost had more fun watching all the domestic tourists on their guided tours with matching hats, etc.

We camped at a small picnic area for tourists at the base of a restored section of the wall. It was a short hike to the guard tower at the top of the wall where we had views of the desert and the industrialized city of Jiayuguan.

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Photos

Climbing the guard tower
Probably not the smartest idea upon closer examination of the ladder.

Another section of the Great Wall
Complete with fake camels at the bottom

Fort 3
Old China meets new China. Note the nuclear power plant in the background.