The Great Wall of China Near Nankow Pass

Panoramic photogravure of the Great Wall of China from the early 1920s.

This crisp panoramic image captures a section of the Great Wall of China, one of the most impressive series of fortifications ever constructed. It shows an area near Nankow Pass, along the trade route to Mongolia, and highlights the rugged terrain and deteriorating condition of the wall. Published in 1923 by the National Geographic Company. According to the accompanying article (not included);

“Scarcely less well known than the Ming Mausolea is the tourist-ridden Nankow Pass, “a remarkable Thermopylae 15 miles in length, which leads from the plain to the first terrace of mountains above it and at one time was guarded by five additional walls and gates.”

This narrow defile used to be and still remains to some extent the caravan route to Mongolia. It was first opened up, according to legend, by the deities known as the Five Tiger Ghosts, patrons of artillery, who blew a passage through the rocks with their cannon.”

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