An hour's drive northwest of Beijing lies a square ancient city—Jīmíngyì

Starting from the center of Beijing, drive northwest on the "Eight Highs" (Beijing-Tibet Expressway/G6) for 120 kilometers. There is an exit called "Jimingyi," which is the name of a standard, complete ancient city, an 800-year-old ancient postal city. Although its scale is much smaller than Pingyao Ancient City and Yuxian Ancient City, its charm lies in its originality and the fact that it has not undergone major renovations. @Fuda Ren Ai Travel happened to have some free time, so they took a weekend trip to Jimingyi City by car. They felt that this ancient city is still worth exploring.

Jiming Ancient Post Station City, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

In the past, whenever people went to Zhangjiakou or the Inner Mongolia grassland, they would always pass by Jimingyi when taking the highway. This place is less than 30 kilometers from the Tumu Fort ruins to the south. Everyone knows about the "Tumu Fort Incident" in history. It was a major event that changed the fate of the Ming Dynasty. Due to the incompetence and neglect of military preparedness by the Ming court, and their lax defense against the northern nomadic tribes, the Ming emperor and the chief eunuch jointly directed this disastrous defeat—200,000 Ming Dynasty central troops were confronted by less than 30,000 Wala troops, and the result was that the Ming soldiers were routed, and the Ming Yingzong was captured by the Wala...The incident occurred between Jimingyi and Tumu Fort. Although the swords and shadows of that time have long disappeared, Jimingyi City has been completely preserved, and even received Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu during their secret escape in the late Qing Dynasty. First, Ming Yingzong was captured, and later, Cixi and Guangxu secretly visited. It seems that this small Jimingyi City is quite extraordinary!

Tall, mottled ancient city walls of Jimingyi

When we arrived at Jimingyi, it was almost noon, so we decided to Enter Jimingyi Ancient City before eating. As soon as we got off the highway, we saw a huge Jimingyi tourism promotional sign—

"Jiming Mountain Post Station is the most complete, largest in scale, and most fully functional ancient post station discovered and preserved in China to date. The Jiming Post Station was initially built during the Liao and Jin dynasties, and its scale was formed during the Yuan Dynasty. It has a history of 800 years. In 1219 AD, Genghis Khan led his troops on a western expedition and set up post stations along the road to the Western Regions. In the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420), Jimingyi had already become the largest station for entering and leaving Xuanfu... "

What did a post station do? It was naturally a postal station, and this was an official term in ancient times. Of course, it was mainly located on the main transportation routes in ancient times, specifically for the transfer and rest of officials during mail delivery. It needed to have all the functions of an inn, post office, stable, restaurant, and warehouse. However, being able to build a post station to the scale of a small city is probably unique.

A section of dirt road inside the ancient city

We had a simple meal at a small restaurant outside the ancient city. The shopkeeper guided us to Enter the ancient city through the small city gate on the north side. Judging from the appearance, the small city gate should have been excavated later for the convenience of the residents of the ancient city, and some dismantled ancient city bricks are still piled up outside the gate.

Ancient murals

Following the old man's winding path through the streets and alleys of the ancient city, we soon arrived at the government office where the ancient murals are preserved. This is a large-scale courtyard, with some buildings renovated and others dilapidated. The old man said that this was where the highest-ranking official in charge of the post station worked. I don't know how reliable the old man's words are, but it can be seen that the murals on the walls of the house should not be restoration works from the past few decades. Judging from the expressions of the people in the paintings and the completeness of their clothing, it is conservatively estimated that they are more than 200 years old.

In fact, it is not surprising that there are these large and small ancient buildings in the ancient city. From the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties to the present, it has been eight or nine hundred years, and the definite construction history of Jimingyi City can also be traced back more than 600 years ago. Over the centuries, Jimingyi City must have experienced many glorious moments, and the indigenous residents of the small city should also have nearly thirty generations of people.

The ancient city gate

After visiting the government office courtyard and the ancient murals, we asked about the location of the courtyard where Cixi stayed, said goodbye to the old man who led the way, and went to the east gate of Jimingyi on our own. There are protruding city walls on both sides of the gate, which are presumed to have been built for defensive purposes. This is the main entrance to the ancient city scenic area, where tourists can buy tickets to Enter and visit the ancient city.