• Albuquerque
  • Jiayuguan

Albuquerque (/ˈælbəkɜːrki/ (listen) AL-bə-kur-kee; Spanish: [alβuˈkeɾke]),[a] abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in 1706 as La Villa de Alburquerque by Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés. Named in honor of the Viceroy of New Spain, the 10th Duke of Alburquerque, the city was an outpost on El Camino Real linking Mexico City to the northernmost territories of New Spain.

Located in the Albuquerque Basin, the city is flanked by the Sandia Mountains to the east and the West Mesa to the west, with the Rio Grande and bosque flowing from north-to-south. According to the 2020 census, Albuquerque had 564,559 residents, making it the 32nd-most populous city in the United States and the fourth largest in the Southwest. It is the principal city of the Albuquerque metropolitan area, which had 916,528 residents as of July 2020, and forms part of the Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area, which numbers 1,162,523 as of January 2020.

Albuquerque is a hub for technology and media companies, historic landmarks, and the fine arts. The city is known for hosting the University of New Mexico, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the Gathering of Nations, the New Mexico State Fair, as well as for its diverse restaurant scene, which features both New Mexican cuisine and cuisines from around the world.

Jiayuguan, known as "the first male pass in the world", is located in the middle of the narrowest valley 5 kilometers west of Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province. the city walls on both sides of the pass cross the Gobi Desert, the suspended Great Wall of Montenegro in the north and the first pier in the south. it is the westernmost pass of the Ming Great Wall. it was once known as Hexi throat in history, because of its dangerous topography and majestic architecture, it is known as the chain key of the border. Jiayuguan is the traffic fortress of the ancient "Silk Road" and one of the three wonders of the Great Wall of China (Shanhaiguan in the east, Zhenbeitai in the middle and Jiayuguan in the west). Jiayuguan was built in the fifth year of Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (1372). It is composed of inner city, outer city, Luocheng, Wengcheng, trench and the north and south wings of the Great Wall, with a total length of about 60 kilometers. The platform, pier and fortress of the Great Wall are dotted with three lines of defense, namely, the inner city, the outer city and the moat.
Travel Sights In Jiayuguan
Travel Notes In Jiayuguan