Niangziguan Pass

Niangziguan Pass is a renowned stronghold on the Great Wall, known as the Ninth Pass of the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall. It has always been a strategically contested fortress for military strategists throughout history. The existing pass city was built in the 20th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1542).

Perched on hills and beside rivers, the ancient castle commands a dominating terrain. Niangziguan has two city gates. The East Gate is an ordinary brick archway inscribed with "Niangziguan of Zhili". A platform fortress stands above it, used for troop reviews and enemy surveillance. The South Gate features a towering, stately solid building laid with bluestone blocks. The General Tower rises majestically above the gate, said to be the place where Princess Pingyang gathered her generals to resist invaders. Four characters — "Barrier of the Imperial Capital Region" — are carved above the archway, testifying to the strategic importance of Niangziguan. To the southeast of the city, the Great Wall winds along Mianshan Mountain with towering ramparts. The Tao River encircles the western part of the pass all year round. Steep mountains, river valleys and the Great Wall together form a natural barrier between Shanxi and Hebei. More than ten scenic spots remain here, including Chengtian Stockade, Laojun Cave, Dunu Shrine, beacon towers, general reviewing platforms, washing basins and summer retreat towers, which are said to have been constructed when Princess Pingyang stationed her troops here.

Niangziguan Village clings to the mountain slope and stretches along the watercourse. Most houses are built of stone blocks, each with a history of over a hundred years. Brooks weave through the village alongside house foundations like a dense water network. Step into any courtyard, and you will find water everywhere. Local women wash clothes and vegetables right at their doorsteps. Many villagers have built small stone bridges inside their yards so that streams wind around their homes. Grape trellises stretch overhead, with stone tables and benches beside the brooks. At night, people enjoy flowers and moonlight accompanied by the gurgling current. Water endows the village with unique vitality, creating a picturesque scene where "people walk above water, and streams flow beneath houses".

On the steep rocky riverbank in the village stand 24 huge ancient stone mills. Their rumbling roar can be heard from afar. Even today with widespread electricity, these mills keep rotating day and night. Farmers from nearby villages drive livestock here to mill grain. Almost every household owns a water-powered stone mill, so they can process crops without going out, saving the labour of manual grinding. For easy identification, each gate is marked with a mill number such as "Mill No.1, Mill No.2", so visitors can find the right family without difficulty.

An ancient road from the Ming and Qing dynasties, once called Cliff Avenue and Xinglong Street, runs through the village. Its exact construction date is unknown, yet the well-preserved old-style stone houses and the potholed bluestone road bear witness to its long history. Villagers once operated grain-processing businesses with the 24 large mills and opened shops along the road to receive travellers from all directions. Though all dwellings are stone-built, differences in width, size, height and construction sequence reveal the families’ wealth gaps. Most residents today are descendants of merchants and garrison soldiers, hence prominent clans including the Hu, Yang and Ma families. The ancestral residence of the Hu family far outshines neighbouring houses. It boasts a grand gate tower with auspicious patterns carved on the boundary stones, and a pair of imposing stone lions in front. While not as spacious as wealthy Shanxi manors, it is fully equipped with a screen wall, side chambers and wing rooms, featuring exquisite brick carvings. Lintel inscriptions such as "Wealth pouring in" reflect the merchants’ wishes, with an air of down-to-earth simplicity typical of businessmen in central Shanxi.