Located in front of the prince residence of the 13th son Zhu Guidai of the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the Nine-Dragon Wall in Datong city was erected in 1392 as a screen (or Spirit Way built inside the main gate of walled compounds to keep out evil spirits as well as more innocent curiosity seekers).

The prince residence was destroyed by war in the end of the Ming Dynasty and only the Nine-Dragon Wall remains. The wall is 45.5 meters long, 8 meters high and 2.02 meters thick. There are four nine-dragon screens (walls) in China, two are in Beijing (the one at Beihai Park – L : 25.84 m, W: 1.42 m, H: 6.65 meters; another at Forbidden City – L: 31m, H: 6 m), and the fourth one, 75 meters long and 5 meters high, which is the largest one, was built in 2002 in Nanning, Guangxi.

Datong Photo Gallery