Gaoque Fortress

 archaeological site, fortification

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Gaoque Fortress an important pass in the Wall to the west of Zhao State. It is located in the Langshan Mountain Pass (Langshan Kou) stretching from the west of Yinshan Mountain to the east of Langshan Mountain. Bounded by the Mongolian Plateau to the north and cultivated plains along the Yellow River to the south, the region occupies an extremely important position to both the military and transportation. There is no earth in the mountains of this region, so the walls were often built with pieces of rocks. Having been affected by weathering and erosion for many centuries, the original purple or grayish rocks have turned into black or black-green, measuring 30 cm to 50 cm (0.3 yards to 0.5 yards) wide and 5 cm to 20 cm (0.05 yards to 0.2 yards) thick.

Gaoque Fortress was the first military pass built by King Wuling of Zhao in 300BC. The remains of Gaoque Fortress are located on a terrace of a steep cliff in Wulate Houqi in Inner Mongolia. It is composed of two small fortifications. The 40m (44 yards) square northern fortress was laid up by big pebbles. The southern fortress is rectangular, measuring 64m (70 yards) from east to west, and 48m (52 yards) from north to south, where cultural relics such as iron axes, arrows and plates were unearthed. The different styles of these two cities suggest that they were built in different times.

A 300m (328 yards) stone wall surrounds the fortress sites and connects to a small hill to the west. On the hill is a square stone building which is reputed to be the site of a collapsed beacon tower. Standing afar and overlooking the Gaoque Fortress, we can see two steep mountain tops standing opposite each other, just like a high gate tower (Gaoque in Chinese), and this explains why the name of this Great Wall fortress is called 'Gaoque'.