Jianmen Pass
By admin on 2015-01-12

Jianmen Pass (jiàn mén guān 剑门关) is located in Jiange County (jiàn gé xiàn 剑阁县), Guangyuan City (guǎng yuán shì 广元市) of Sichuan Province (sì chuān shěng 四川省). It is on the middle part of the Dajian Mountain (dà jiàn shān 大剑山). On both side of the pass, there are the escarpments erecting high to the sky. Dangerous cliffs make it like a gate, hence the name of Jianmen (jiàn mén 剑门). It is crowned as the No. 1 Pass in China.

Jianmen Pass was always the place of strategic importance in history because it is difficult to access. It is said that in Warrior State Period (zhàn guó shí qī 战国时期), Qin (qín 秦) wanted to swallow Shu (shǔ 蜀) but troubled from no way leading to Shu. Therefore, the emperor of Qin lied to Shu that he wanted to send five golden oxes and five beauties. The emperor of Shu accepted his words as true and sent some workers to split up the mountain to pave a road for the Qin. The road is called Jinniu Road, also called Jianmen Shu Road (jiàn mén shǔ dào 剑门蜀道).

There was once a three-storied gate tower beside the pass. At the center of the tower, there is a stele, on which there written “天下雄关"(tiān xià xióng guān). However, it is a great pity that the tower was demolished in 1935, only left a stone tablet. The gate tower at present is a greater one built on the relics of the original one.

Except for the danger, Jianmen Pass is also famous for its deep and serene valley, beautiful Cuiyun Corridor, unique rocks and caves and cultural relics. For example, the Liangshan Temple (liáng shān sì 梁山寺), Cuiping Peak (cuì píng fēng 翠屏峰), Jinghuang Cave (jīng huáng dòng 经皇洞), Leigong Gorge (léi gōng xiá 雷公峡), Fairy Bridge (xiān nǚ qiáo 仙女桥) so on and so forth.