Ancient Cliff House

The Ancient Cliff House GuYaJu, located northwest of Dongmenying Village of Zhangshanying Town, Yanqing County, is the largest ancient Chinese cliff residence ever discovered in China. The house complex has more than 130 remaining caves. The Ancient Cliff House (Guyaju), 'the biggest maze of China', was a significant discovery relating to the study of ancient Chinese people who inhabited the north of the country. However, no precise record of it has ever been found, so no one knows its exact origins. On each side of the precipitous cliffs, adjacent stone houses, rectangular and square, large and small, were built. The houses vary in size, from over 20 square meters (24 square yards) to 3-4 square meters (4.5 square yards).

Some are interlinked perpendicularly, while some are interconnected horizontally. Some have a single room, while some have 2-3 connecting rooms. The most fascinating one is a 2-storey stone house, with six finely engraved stone pillars propping it up. Stone steps, and stone ladders are used to connect the storeys of an entire cliff house. Stone lamp-stands, stone hearths, closets, and mangers in the caves, the windows and gates all remain as traces of their mysterious ancient inhabitants. Some houses were built with kangs, a kind of bed which can be heated from below on cold days. The miraculous Ancient Cliff House is waiting for you to throw off her veil to the world.
Ticket Price: 40RMB            Tel: 010-69110333