Jingzhou Ancient City Wall

Ming Dynasty City Wall Of The Three Kingdoms City Of Jingzhou; Major Historical And Cultural Site Protected At The National Level · Jingzhou, Hubei

One of the best-preserved city walls in southern China, wrapping more than ten kilometres around the old town of Jingzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze. The present brick wall is Ming and Qing work, rebuilt on foundations far older, and six gates survive with their barbicans - double gateways where attackers could be trapped between two sets of doors. What draws Chinese visitors is the history attached to it: Jingzhou was the great prize of the Three Kingdoms, the city Liu Bei borrowed and did not return, defended by Guan Yu and lost by him in the campaign that ended his life, and every episode is familiar from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A giant statue of Guan Yu once stood nearby, and the Guandi Temple, the Zhang Juzheng former residence and the excellent Jingzhou Museum, with its lacquerware and a remarkably preserved Han-dynasty body, are all within the walls. Visitors can climb the ramparts at Binyang Tower and walk a stretch above the moat, with willows below and the old town on one side.

Jingzhou Ancient City Wall, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou, Hubei, China

Daily, about 8:00-17:30, closing about half an hour earlier in winter (check); the Jingzhou Museum is free and keeps its own hours.

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