Juyong Pass is located in an 18 kilometer-long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than 50 kilometers from Beijing City. It is one of the three greatest passes of Great Wall of China. The other two passes are Jiayuguan Pass and Shanhai Pass.
It had many different names in the past dynasties. However, the name "Juyong Pass" was used by more than three dynasties. It was first used in the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) when Qin Emperor Shihuang ordered to build the Great Wall. Juyong Pass has two passes, one at the south and one at the north. The south one is called "Nan Pass" and the north one is called "Badaling".
The wall we can see now was built in the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), supervised by Xu Da, a great general who fought with Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) to set up a new regime at the turning point of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and the Ming Dynasty. The valley where Juyong Pass lies is 20 km long, steep and precipitous. Thus, Juyong Pass won the reputation ofthe most steep and dangerous passlong before. Juyong Pass and Badaling in the south are vital gateways in the northwest region of Beijing City. In the Ming Dynasty, soldiers all over the country were established into troops known as the so-called the Defense Bureau System. After Emperor Zhudi of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, Juyong Pass become more vital to the defense against theNüzhenethnic minority in the northeast of China. Therefore, the Defense Bureaus were settled at Juyong Pass with massive forces guarding there. Meantime, the Defense Bureauswere also in charge of the defenders along the near wall and responsible for the gateway of the northwest region of Beijing City.
In the middle of Juyongguan Pass, there is a "Cloud Platform" with another name of "Crossing Street Tower". It was made of white marble in the Yuan Dynasty with a height of 9.5 meters. Around the top of the platform there are many architectures such as stone railings and a watching post. They are still kept in the style of the Yuan Dynasty. In the middle of the base of the platform there is an arched door where men, horses and carriages could pass through. Many animal images were carved in the arched hole and the arched door. On the walls of both sides of the door, the statues of gods and scriptures are carved. There were three white towers on the platform in the past (this is how it got the name of "Crossing Street Tower") and were destroyed in the transitional period between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Later a Tai'an Temple was built on the platform but was later destroyed in the Qing Dynasty.
As there are lush flowers and trees around the Pass like layers of green waves, so it got the good name of "Juyong Green Layers", which belongs to one of "Yanjing Eight Best Sceneries".
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