Baimaguan Fort () is a fort in the village of
Fanzipai (番字牌), north of
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and close to the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
. It was built in the period of the
Yongle emperor
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
(1402-1424) of the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
.
The fort consisted of 500 guards and beacon towers and along with
Qiangzilu Fort and
Gubeikou Fort, these forts were additional defence along
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's northern front.
Little of the original structure has remained, except for the south gate. It is an arched gate, 120 meters wide and 80 meters deep. The characters Bai Ma Guan Fort are inscribed on a stone tablet above the arch. The tablet is somewhat different from those found at other forts, in that the four characters are arranged vertically in two lines, "Bai Ma" on the right and "Guan Bao" on the left. Baima means "white horse" in Chinese.
References
Forts in China
Great Wall of China
Miyun District
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