Shanhaiguan Pass

En un regard

Le château en bref

Where the Yan Mountains come down to the Bohai Gulf, the Shanhaiguan Pass – literally the "mountain and sea pass" – locks the narrow corridor linking the North China Plain to the Northeast. General Xu Da, a companion in arms of the Hongwu Emperor, founded a military guard and a walled town here in 1381, which became the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall. The East Gate, crowned by the Zhendong Tower, bears the famous plaque "First Pass Under Heaven", whose calligraphy is attributed to the Ming scholar Xiao Xian. In 1579 Qi Jiguang extended the wall into the sea with the Laolongtou, the "Old Dragon's Head". In 1644 it was here that General Wu Sangui joined forces with the Manchu troops to defeat Li Zicheng's army, opening the road to Beijing for the Qing. Under the Qing the pass became the main lock between Beijing and the secondary capital Shengjing (Shenyang). Protected at national level since 1961, it is part of the Great Wall UNESCO World Heritage Site; a museum of the Great Wall of China opened there in 2025.