Liaoning: Hushan Great Wall and Jiumengkou Great Wall

The Hushan Great Wall is a section of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall located in Dandong, Liaoning province, on the banks of the Yalu River, the border between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

According to the latest academic research and confirmation, this section of the Great Wall is the eastern starting point of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall, rather than Shanhai Pass, as was previously believed. This section was first built in 1469. Local restoration began after it was technically identified as the easternmost stretch of the Great Wall from the Ming Dynasty based on historical documents and archaeological findings.

Apart from the Hushan Great Wall, Liaoning province also retains a section of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall known as Jiumenkou (literally, nine-water-gate pass). It is made up of barracks, walls, watchtowers, trenches, beacon towers, cannon terraces, and unique to all -- a cross-river bridge.

Normally, the Great Wall follows the shape of the mountains and disconnects when it meets a river, but the section on water at Jiumenkou breaks this tradition.

Its location was an important route from northeastern China to the Central Plain. Built across the Jiujiang River nearly 100 meters wide, it has nine huge, distinctive arched water gates. Each is five meters wide and seven meters high. There used to be a double-layered wooden gate fixed to each arch that was closed during the dry season to stop the enemy from passing through.

The Jiumenkou Great Wall stretches 1,704 meters connected with parts of the Great Wall from the Shanhai Pass in the south. It took the name "Jiumenkou" after its above-water strucuture, a stand-out feature among Great Wall sections in China.