Is Yongtai ancient city worth visiting?
Yongtai Ancient City is located in Stan Township, Jingtai County, Baiyin City, Gansu Province, about100km away from Baiyin City. It is located on the barren Gobi desert, surrounded by the continuous Qilian Mountain Tiger Hill. From a distance, it looks deserted and desolate, like no man's land, but the scenery is really spectacular.
Yongtai ancient city was built in 36 years of Ming Wanli, with a history of more than 400 years. It was built to resist foreign invasion. After its completion, it became an important local military fortress, where Lanzhou Senate was stationed at that time.
Today, although it is barren, the military facilities of that year are still clearly visible, such as tall city walls, towers, crocks and moats. In addition, looking around the ancient city, you can also see the beacon tower stretching for dozens of miles, which can be called "the textbook model of ancient military fortress in China".
Yongtai ancient city in history has a very high status, four distinct seasons and lush flowers and trees. It once became the gateway to the eastern end of Hexi Corridor and the throat to Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet and other places. Who would have thought, but now it has become a barren, boundless and neglected ruin.
Generally, the ancient city walls we see are made of bricks. Different from the ancient city of Yongtai, the city wall is rammed with loess, with a height of12m and a thickness of 6m. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, it is still well preserved.
If you have been to Yongtai ancient city before, you should be impressed by the face of this ancient city. The ancient city covers an area of 3 18 mu. The whole city is oval, surrounded by towers, urns and beacon towers. From the air, it looks like a golden turtle lying on this land, so Yongtai ancient city is also called "turtle city".
Walking into the ancient city, what you see in front of you is basically barren. All the people who used to live here have left, leaving an empty overgrown yard.
It is reported that when it was first built, there were more than 2,000 soldiers and more than 500 cavalry stationed here, as well as institutions and facilities such as mills, fireworks factories, horse farms and forage fields. In 1950s, there were more than 1, 300 people living here, but now it is deserted and awkward.
It is said that this is related to the large-scale construction in the 1950s. Because of the need of construction, hundreds of trees in the ancient city were cut down, and the temple buildings built in Ming and Qing Dynasties were also demolished. As a result, the problem of ecological land use is becoming more and more serious, the problem of sandstorm is becoming more and more serious, and there is less and less rain, which is completely unsuitable for people to live and live. Most residents have moved out.
Of course, there are families here today, but less than 10 families live here. Because the land is salinized and desertification is serious, it is not suitable for planting crops. Even if crops are planted, the harvest is not ideal.
As the ancient city of Yongtai is not a tourist attraction, there are no tourist facilities to visit, such as restaurants and accommodation, but you can eat at farmers' homes. 10 yuan A bowl of this floor is very memorable. No accommodation, need to live in Jingtai County.
Although the scenery of Yongtai ancient city gives people a desolate feeling, it is very spectacular, attracting many film and television crews to shoot. The Battle of the Town starring Sun, Lin Chi-ling and others was filmed here, and the building built in those years is still there.
People who live here basically live by herding sheep besides growing crops. However, in recent years, with the increase in the number of shepherds, the surrounding grasslands are almost disappearing, and shepherds may have to stay away from here. At that time, Yongtai ancient city may really become an empty city.