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Jimingyi Post Station is located at Huailai county, Hebei province, on the north side of the Yang River and at the foot of Jiming Mountain. It is about 150 km northwest of Beijing, a 2-hour drive via the super-highway towards Zhangjiakou.
The history of Jimingyi can dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). In 1219, Genghis Khan, the great leader of the Mongolians, implemented a post road and built a postal station -- Jimingyi -- midway between Beijing and the northern town of Xuanhua. Eighty percent of the architecture in Jimingyi is from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The oldest construction is Ningyong Temple, dating back 800 years. In 1913, after the Government of Beiyang repealed Jimingyi and enabled a new postal system, the oldest postal station in China ended its historical role and became a memorable Chinese town. It is the largest post station at Beijing surrounding area, and is also the best preserved, largest, and most distinctive buildings, with important historical, artistic or scientific value, and is known as the postal archaeological and a “living fossil” of confidential archaeological.
It was twilight when I arrived at Jimingyi Post Station. I walked along the city wall, watched the Jiming Mountain, and looked at the residual wall and rubble, the city gate towers, the old street, looked at the curling smoke, and the chatting villagers under the sun… in a trance, I seemed to be through the history, in the middle of the ancient times, the hills, the blood sun... I seemed to hear the echo of the ancient.
Jiming walls is square, each side about 300 meters long, the walls are the green bricks barrier, rammed loess, up to 15 m, and there are two city gates on the wall, during which there is avenue, available for vehicle access.
Looking down from the tower, there is a 15 meters wide road through the west gate, and straight spacious traverses the city.
Station City covers an area of 22,000 square meters, and the wall circumference is about 1891.8 m. The city wall surface is brick, and the inner layer is rammed earth. The bottom width if the wall is 8-11 meters, width of 3-5 meters, 11 meters high. There are tall towers on both sides of the wall, looking from afar, with particularly taste.
There are four corner sets in four directions of the walls, the gates in the east and west direction open, built with a tower. The wall is back to the mountain, very spectacular.
Walls, castles and Jimingshan bathed in twilight, while the mountain w was just like a many vicissitudes of the elderly, reinforced steel frame, majestic and solemn, in the trace of vitality among the desolate, protecting the same vicissitudes Jimingyi ancient city.
The old house has been tilted.
Jimingyi wholly unlike a city, but rather an ancient village
The door of the small courtyard slight open, despite broken, but could see that the owner was still look forward to the life.
This ancient soil house, after a few dynasties, so far strong enough to withstand the invasion of sand
Many courtyards have been in ruins after the years of erode, filling the vicissitudes of life.
Old trees, old house, but I can see the people of the town lived a poor, but the gusto of life.
There are carefully crafted brick tile houses and now common red brick houses in ancient city Jimingyi, some houses even built with ceramic tile which seems not in harmony with the rustic environment.
Piles of corn on the cob in the yard tell people that Jimingyi villagers are still engaged in cultivation, the keeper of life's labors.
This scene cannot be seen in many rural areas now.
This scene immediately attracted me.
From here, I could overlook the whole Jiming ancient city.
From this perspective, the ancient city is another feeling.
This smoke released into the atmosphere in the sunset, giving a harmony, warm, live feel.
In the darkness, gray, red roof, and that waft of smoke sometimes stretched out of old tree branches, all seems bleak and mysterious.