Yumenguan, “Jade Gate Pass,” was the westernmost outpost of the Han Great Wall. Its name comes from the precious jade that passed through here from Khotan (modern-day Hotan in Xinjiang) into the Chinese interior.
Built around 111 BCE, this square earthen fortress guarded the Silk Road’s northern route. The surviving structure — a 10-meter-high rammed earth platform — stands alone in the Gobi Desert, a haunting monument to China’s ancient frontier.