Brief Introduction : The first beacon tower of the Great Wall, also known as Tao Lai River beacon tower, is a beacon tower at the southern end of the West Great Wall of Jiayuguan Pass and a beacon tower at the western end of the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty. The first beacon tower of the Great Wall was built in the 18th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1539 A.D.) by Li Han who is the vice commander of Suzhou(today's Jiuquan). The beacon tower is 7.5 kilometers in the south of Jiayuguan fort, which stands on a 56-meter high cliff by the Taolai River.

The first beacon tower of the Great Wall is the most important watch tower in the south of Jiayuguan pass, which is responsible for transmitting military information of the south of Jiayuguan and the Qilian Mountains. The dock, post horses, post camel, food ,accommodation and singnal straws for making smoke or fire were all equipped here, and it was equipped with a certain number of garrison as well. Now the residual height of this tower is about 10 meters,and its bottom shows irregular square with the width of 14 meters. The interior of it still presents square,which is 6 meters both in length and width . It is made of rammed loess, rammed soil layer with the thickness of 10-20cm. The inscription of "The First Dun (beacon tower) of the Great Wall" was inscribed by the late General of the Western Route Army, Wei Chuantong. The handwriting is so elegant and meaningful.

In the scenic area of first beacon tower of the Great Wall the natural scenery is very spectacular, which is close by Jiuquan in the east,connected with Gobi desert in the west, in accordance with the Jiayuguan pass in the north and neighboured with Qilian mountain in the south,and by which Tao Lai River water flows. If the Great Wall is compared as the monument of the Chinese nation, then the first beacon tower of the Great Wall can be compared as the place where the monument rose.

Admission fee :21 yuan/person, Shuttle bus:12 yuan/person

Opening Time :8:30a.m.—8:00p.m.(May 1st—October31), 8:30—6:00(November 1st—April 30)

Visiting Time : around 1 hour

Better Seasons to Visit: May ---October

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