Yangguan, “Sun Gate Pass,” was established during the Han Dynasty (c. 120 BCE) as a frontier checkpoint on the Silk Road. Together with Yumenguan, it controlled the western approaches to the Chinese empire.
The famous Tang Dynasty poem by Wang Wei — “I urge you to drink another cup of wine, for west of Yangguan there are no old friends” — immortalized this lonely desert outpost. Today, only ruins remain, but the Yangguan Museum displays artifacts excavated from the site.