A fortress guarding a mountain pass during the ancient overland Silk Road period. Much of the region decayed after the overland Silk Road was overtaken by the modern marine Silk Road, but JiaYuGuan survived and thrived due to its rich iron ore deposits which supported a big steel mill, 15th largest in the country, directly employing 10% of JYG population of 220,000. We had a nice lady tour guide taking us through JYG fortress. The walk through the fortress is more interesting with some history tales. She earns Y800 a month doing shift work in a cement factory, and supplements her income guiding tourists through the fortress for around Y500-800 more a month. Our double room in the best hotel in town cost us Y140 per night, breakfasts inclusive. A tour guide, plus a driver and his car to see Jiayuguan and adjacent Great Wall cost us Y125, plus Y121 of entry tickets. The visit to 'Grand Canyon' cost Y80 more plus Y42 tix. Basically a dedicated tour guide plus a driver and car cost us Y205 for 6 hrs. The driver we enagaged on day 1 in Dunhuang cost us Y500 for 11 hrs.
A spring next to Jiayuguan fortress used to provide drinking water to the garrison guarding the fortress but these days, the reservoir is artificially flooded, by tanker trucks. The whole region is harsh, dry soil and arid conditions make the whole place barren. Add the infamous sandstorms that blasted across the region and all structures will be pulverised to sand in due course, thus the creation of spectacularly beautiful sand hills. We saw heavy efforts planting trees on hill slopes, and even greater efforts irrigating the trees. Residents in Jiayuguan are taxed Y120 per year for their tree growing efforts. The challenge is not Y120, or human efforts, but the restriction imposed by the artesian water sources. What is drawn from one place to irrigate trees in and around towns depletes water levels somewhere else. For a region with annual precipitation around 50mm and evaporation around 2000mm, keeping trees alive is a big challenge. We often see pipes spraying water at trees on hill slopes in broad daylight. Most of the water will be evaporated before reaching the roots. It is a big challenge. This is gigantic effort to fight against Nature. I dont know which side will win in the end.
The whole region looks like outback desert Australia (think land around Uluru), possibly more arid, but as in Australia, the land is rich with oil and ore deposits. Harsh for those who had to travel pass it 1000 yrs ago carrying silk to europe.
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