Situated 4 kilometers west of Jiayuguan city on the northwest part of Gansu Province, Jiayuguan Pass is the western end of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. It is also the most important and best-preserved pass among the over thousand passes of the Great Wall built during in Ming Dynasty. It is well known as "Impregnable Pass under Heaven”.

The structure was initially built in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 600 years. It took about 160 years to establish this strategic outpost. A legend says that when Jiayuguan Pass was to be built, the official in charge of this project asked the designer to count how many bricks and other materials would be used precisely. The designer gave him a specific number. But when the project was finished, one brick was left which was placed on the pass as a symbol of commemoration.

The inner city, standing right at the center of the Pass, is surrounded by 6 meter-high hardened loess as the base plus 3 meter-high brick wall on the top. 1.7 meter-high brick buttress aligned with crenels and lookout holes are built on top of the wall. Between crenels of the western wall there are notches for lamps. Beneath the notches, are slanting openings for shooting. The city has four corner towers, and a gate tower in the middle of each of the two north to south walls. The eastern and western gates are protected by wengcheng (barbican entrance), which connects with the inner city in a zigzag way. Once the enemy enters the wengcheng, he will find himself like a turtle in a jar waiting to be caught. On the building at the west gate, the Chinese inscription of "Jiayuguan Pass" is written on a tablet.