Witness to storied history

Notably, the remains of a deserted Gothic church built in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) stand not far away from the ancient and desolate Great Wall, making it a unique cultural spectacle.

At the foot of the Motianling mountain range, there stand a number of arrow towers; the Ninglukou Arrow Tower is the best preserved example in the central and western flanks of the Great Wall.

The Yuehuachi Castle is a special site among all of the ancient frontier fortress castles. It is located in the inner side of the Ming Great Wall in the north of Weilu village of Zuoyun county, Datong, which integrates various military functions such as a garrison, lookout and sounding the alarm. With the Great Wall as its north wall, the circumference of the castle is about 260 meters.

Different from most of the desolate forts of the Great Wall, the Shoukou Fort in Yanggao and the Desheng Fort in Xinrong have been encircled by fertile farmlands and prosperous towns today.

Xu Yajie, a tourist from Zhejiang interested in history, said: "In the past, the Great Wall held more of a symbolic meaning for us. It was not until I came to Datong that I saw the Great Wall in various forms. It can not only snake and rise like a dragon, but can also be a section of earth wall, an arrow tower or a castle. The Great Wall in the mind begins to become vivid."

In recent years, with the building of the Great Wall tourist highway, the Xinping Fort, Shoukou Fort, Desheng Fort, Batai Church and Yonggu Tomb, the burial site of Feng Empress Dowager of the Beiwei Dynasty (386-534) — when Datong served as the capital city known as Dragon City — have become more accessible to tourists.

Liu Zhiyao, a researcher of the Great Wall from Zuoyun, said: "After the opening of the highway and with the maturing of the supporting facilities of scenic spots, there will be a large number of tourists flocking to the once rarely-visited spots in the deep mountains of the Great Wall, and some local tourism resources can be developed."

Peng Ke'er in Datong contributed to this story.