Jiayuguan

A quick 18 hour train journey from Xian and we were in the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu province. The sites here were great, but we weren't huge fans of the town. We started at an old fort used as a defense also connected to the western end of the Great Wall.

Walls definitely seem to be the defense strategy of choice years back here in China.
I suppose elevation gave their archers the upper hand. Here we are trying out hand at it - a very touristy thing to do. Neither of us were able to hit our target, although I'd like to say that at least mine was close!

A pretty interesting place to visit.
Next was the western end of the great wall. Quite spectacular and great to see. We climbed to the top and then back down. The landscape here was radically different than where we had come from, and we definitely felt close to Xinjiang province. The lay of the land had a very 'middle east' feel to it.