Sites of Military Old Watch Towers - Datong

There are about 72 watch castles within the territory of Datong City but many had been abandoned. These watch castles were built on The Great Wall during Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to protect the city from the attack of Northern Mongolian nomads tribes. Most of the castles were found 50 km away north west of the city and with a distance of 25km apart from each other. Castle Desheng-bao （得胜堡） located along the main road to Inner Mongolia at the north end of Datong City in Xinyong Area （新荣区）, was one of the important military watch towers at that time. It was first built with compact soil in early Ming Dynasty and later covered up with bricks during the reign of Emperor Wanli in year 1574. Most of the bricks had been knocked down and moved away by villagers. The present remains has no trace of horse track and walls were badly damaged. The brick constructed Southern Arch Gate and its beautifully brick-carving design is the only structure that was well preserved.



The remains of Castle Desheng-Bao.












Desheng-bao measured approximately 312 x 215 meter in size with 5 meter in height



The prestige carvings at Southern Arch Gate.






The beacon platform where warnings were given out by smokefire to inform of the approaching enemies. The conical structure was missing.









The surrounding villages.









Discovery of a little pond sparkling like a sapphire at the plateau while we continued the exploration of old military watch towers.



Strong wind, but attracted by its beauty and curious of its existing....



Fabulous!





The 5 inner watch towers commonly known by people are Castles Zhen-bian, Zhen-zhuan, Hong-ci, Zhen-lu and Zhen-he. The walls and castles were built up with compact soil. The tough structures made them preserved till today.



This was the most outstanding part of Ming Great Walls. The walls were more than 5 meter high and appeared from far as if a flying dragon across the ranges.



Remains of a beacon smokefire platform.






Magnificent view of northern scenery of Mongolia beyond the old great wall.















Crossing the ancient great walls, ascending up the Square Mountain, climbing up the old watch military towers...enjoy the sights of northern and eastern frontiers beyond the pass.









The unusual landscapes were caused by weather and volcano.