Zhangjiakou Jimingyi Ancient City | The first post office in ancient times.

Jimingyi Ancient City is currently the most complete large-scale Qing Dynasty post station in China. In ancient times, it was a hub of information and transportation, playing important roles in transmitting information and transferring materials.
The ancient city of Jimingyi is surrounded by a city wall. The city wall has three gates in the east, west and north for entry and exit. There are villages in the city where local people still live.
legend about it
The war rages on for three months, and letters from home are worth ten thousand gold... In ancient times, the post station served as a modern post office and a military base. To send a letter quickly, you need to change horses at the inn station. Jiming Station got its name because it is backed by Jiming Mountain. It started in the Yuan Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. It is the only remaining large-scale and fully functional station in China.
On the long journey outside the Great Wall in the west of Beijing, Jimingyi is a warm place among the mountains. This place once had a prosperous economy and culture, with merchants gathering, glorious temples, and magnificent buildings. There are five "three horizontal and two vertical" streets in the city that run through the east, west, north and south. The city is unevenly divided into 3 areas, 9 blocks and 12 pieces according to the character "well".
🔴【Main Building】
There are many buildings in the scenic area but they are all very small. Each building is very close to each other. You can visit each one. We recommend the following main buildings:
☑️He Family Courtyard
The most famous "He Family Courtyard" in the inn was once the place where the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu stayed during their escape.
To this day, there are still four large regular script characters "Hongxi receives blessing" carved on bricks on the gable wall of the second courtyard as a commemoration of the Empress Dowager Cixi's residence here.
☑️Taishan Temple
Taishan Temple was built in the 8th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 300 years, but the murals in the temple are still clearly visible, and the layered painting effect is shocking.
☑️Yi culture themed post office
☑️Pudu Temple
transportation:
You can directly navigate to the east or west gate of Jimingyi. Parking in the parking lot at the entrance is 10 yuan per time. External vehicles are not allowed to enter the ancient city.
Opening hours:
08:30 - 17:30, it is also open at other times, but no tickets are charged because the toll collectors get off work (sometimes they get off work later), and sometimes the toll collectors come earlier in the morning.
Tickets:
It costs 40 yuan at the ticket office and 36 yuan online. You can negotiate the price when there are not many people. If you are lucky, it will be 20 yuan per person. Children under 1.2 meters (inclusive) are free, students with student ID are half-price, those over 70 years old (inclusive) are free, and those between 60 (inclusive) and 70 years old (inclusive) are half-price.
👩👩👩Personal suggestions:
If you don't like history and don't like it, I don't recommend making a special trip. Moreover, the place is not big and you can finish it in about 1-2 hours.