The First Pass in the World - Shanhaiguan

Shanhaiguan Ancient City is an important military city defense system on the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty. The pass is located in a critical dangerous place, and it is also the first pass of the Great Wall from the East; therefore, it is called the First Pass in the World.

On both sides of Shanhaiguan, there are five enemy buildings distributed on one line, namely Jingbian Building, Muying Building, Zhendong Building, Linlu Building and Weiyuan Hall. Equally distributed on the Great Wall line for more than 1,000 meters, they are known as "Five Tiger Guard the East". Streets, valleys and nearby small towns surrounds the pass and presents the rigorous city defense constrction of ancient China.

Wengcheng City is the most precious city in the Great Wall architecture. Although its scale is not very large, it plays a quite important role. Firstly, when it comes to enemy invasion, the door of the city can be closed to function as the second defense lines, making the enemies confined in the city helplessly. Secondly, from the perspective of architectural design, the outside Wengcheng Cities circulate around the inner one for protection, forming the structure like several cities guard the inner one as a strong and majestic defense and reflecting the characteristics of the defense project of the Great Wall.

Owing to its crucial position, in the hub of Central Plain farming culture and Northeast Nomadism, Shanhaiguan played a particularly prominent role in Ming and Qing Dynasties’ commercial activities. Dwellers in the Central Plains and ethnic minorities interacted frequently, making Shanhaiguan not only an important military town but a significant commercial town.

Shanhaiguan, along its buildings, played a decisive role in Ming Dynasty to prevent the rise of the Jurchens in the Northeast and the remnants of Yuan Dynasty. After Qing Dynasty dominated the Central Plains, the Great Wall around Shanhaiguan lost its function for military defense, but it was still the traffic fortress in the Northeast of China and North China. In Qing Dynasty, Shanhaiguan became the only way for the emperor to worship his ancestors in Shenyang, and also a place for literati to climb the building and admire the beautiful scenery.

As one of the first key cultural relic protection units in China, Shanhaiguan enlisted the World Cultural Heritage in 1987.