Ningxia | China's "Great Wall Museum"

Although Ningxia is small, it has all the "five internal organs". Basins, canyons, deserts, wetlands, from rivers and mountains, to lonely deserts, to ancient ruins, there are everything in Ningxia.

In addition, Ningxia is also one of the areas with the densest distribution of the Great Wall in China.

Because it is located in the interlaced zone of nomadic and agricultural civilizations, since the Warring States period, Qin, Han, Sui, Ming and other dynasties have built the Great Wall in Ningxia.

Unlike the stone and brick Great Wall in Beijing, most of the Great Wall in Ningxia is made of rammed loess. Compared with the grandeur of the Great Wall of stone and brick, the Great Wall of Ningxia is more desolate and vicissitudes.

Driving in Ningxia, you can often see some mounds in the shape of beacon towers and the ruins of the Great Wall. In some places, there are even multiple Great Walls of different periods at the same time, which can be called China's "Great Wall Museum".

Xingwuying|Two Great Walls meet here

At the junction of northeast Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, the Great Wall suddenly split into two and continued to extend almost parallel to Inner Mongolia.

This is Xingwu Camp.

Xingwuying is located in Gaoshawo Town, Yanchi County, Wuzhong City, only a few kilometers away from Etuokeqian Banner in Inner Mongolia. Xingwuying was once an important frontier fortress, and now it is the name of the village at the junction of the two districts.

Drive east from Yinchuan, near the junction of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia. Because it is close to the Mu Us Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia, the scene in front of you gradually becomes desolate.

The two Great Walls in Xingwuying were built at different times. Looking down from the air, the village is located at the intersection of the two Great Walls. The local people call the Great Wall the "Border Wall". It is said that because the Great Wall built by Qin Shihuang was too violent, later generations wanted to avoid suspicion, so they changed the name to "Border Wall".

Today's Xingwuying Great Wall has become a continuous ridge. If no one reminds us, it is difficult to connect this ridge in front of us with the magnificent Great Wall.

Castle|The frontier fortress town

Compared with the Great Wall, Xingwuying Castle is obviously more interesting.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Jin Lian, then governor of Ningxia and the capital censor, presented to the court and suggested setting up Xingwu Yingcheng to command the frontier defense. Xingwuying City was established on the basis of the original Tang Dynasty castle.

The entire city site is rectangular, the city wall is more than 6 meters high, there are two gates and 4 corner platforms, and there is an urn outside the south gate.

In terms of time, Xingwuying Castle has a longer history than the two adjacent Great Walls.

Hundreds of years later, only the ruins of the old city remained, and the city was empty, replaced by a wasteland overgrown with weeds.

Even so, judging from the outline of the city site that has been preserved to this day, we can still get a glimpse of the momentum of that year.

Climb up the city wall and look at the inside and outside of the Great Wall. Perhaps hundreds of years ago, a soldier stood in this position and did the same thing.

"Great Wall Village" | A village built with Great Wall bricks

Before coming here, I heard that Xingwuying Village has a bright spot - the building materials in the village are both luxurious and precious, because many buildings here are built with Great Wall bricks.

After checking with the villagers, it was true for a long time in the past.

The Great Wall and castles around Xingwuying used to have city wall bricks. In the early days of liberation, due to construction needs, the city wall bricks were taken down by local villagers to build a village, so now only the city walls rammed with earth remain.

According to local villagers, at that time, the courtyard walls, wells, sheep pens and other places in the house were all built with Great Wall bricks, which were strong and easy to use.

But now the Great Wall bricks are rarely seen in the village. The reason is that more than two years ago, the relevant departments wanted to recycle the Great Wall bricks. Most of the villagers handed in the bricks and rebuilt the village facilities with ordinary bricks.

I don't know what the villagers said the relevant departments used to recycle the Great Wall bricks. I guess it may be used for future restoration.

Master | Inheritance in another way

Before leaving, I went to a villager's house on purpose, saw a few Great Wall bricks preserved in his house, and couldn't help touching them with my hands.

It cannot be denied that the actions of the villagers back then caused irreparable damage to the Great Wall and the ancient castle. Without the protection of the city bricks, the loess was exposed. I don’t know how long these relics can last.

Of course, the responsibility for the destruction does not lie with the villagers. Under the special historical background of that year, how can we talk about the awareness of cultural relics protection?

The experience of Xingwuying is not an isolated case.

Let's think about it from another angle, is the owner of Xingwu Camp a human being, or the Great Wall?

The villagers here have lived here for generations, and the military mission of the Great Wall has come to an end. The villagers used local materials to build their homes. The Great Wall may just continue to be passed on in another way.

Travel Tips Tips:

【Location】Xingwuying Village, Gaoshawo Town, Yanchi County, Wuzhong City, Ningxia

[Traffic strategy] The location is relatively remote, it is recommended to drive there

[Expense budget] Free

[Precautions] The ruins of the Great Wall are protected by fences. Xingwuying Castle can be climbed on the city wall, but pay attention to safety and the protection of cultural relics.