The Xuanquanzhi site is a small square castle with the door facing east, surrounded by tall courtyard walls, 50 meters long, and a corner tower protruding from the dock at the southwest corner. The dock wall is made of adobe with a length, width and thickness of about 40, 20 and 11 cm. In the dock, there are 3 groups of 12 adobe wall bungalows (including one suite) built in different periods on the west and north walls, which are accommodation areas; the east and north sides are office buildings; there are 3 stables in the southwest corner and north. ; There is a group of about 50 meters long, north-south direction of 3 stables in the southwest of the dock. The western part of the dock is a waste accumulation area. Xuanquanzhi is known as a major new discovery in the archaeological world in the 1990s. It is equivalent to the post station of later generations. Archaeological excavations have proved that in the same year (101 B.C.) when Li Guangli and Dawan won the bloody horse, the Western Han Dynasty set up an important institution in Xuanquan, specializing in delivering official documents, mails, and receiving past officials and envoys - Xuanquanzhi. This Han Dynasty site was discovered in 1987. Since 1990, the cultural relics and archaeologists of Gansu Province have organized cultural relics and archaeologists to excavate it for two years. More than 20 sheets of hemp paper with Chinese ink marks unearthed in Xuanquanzhi have been identified as Chinese paper. This discovery pushed the time of the invention of paper in my country by nearly a century, and overturned the conclusion of Cai Lun's papermaking theory. It is the earlier paper discovered at home and abroad so far. The number of Han bamboo slips unearthed in Xuanquanzhi is staggering, with a total of more than 15,000 pieces. Its content is very rich, including edicts, judicial orders, post-booking books, cultural technology and other miscellaneous things. The connotation has expanded from the simple frontier garrison in "Falling Slips in Quicksand" to the administrative affairs of the border county, the postal business, the exchanges with the Western Regions, and the commercial activities. Other relics unearthed in Xuanquanzhi are also more precious, with a wide variety of agricultural tools, hunting tools, currency weapons, pottery clothing, grains, stone inkstones and brushes, etc. Although these relics have been preserved for thousands of years, they are still intact.
The Suspension Spring site is not a tourist attraction at present, and the state is carrying out the protection of the cultural heritage of the site, so it is not worth visiting for most people. People who have seen the documentary "Hexi Corridor" must be no stranger to the hanging spring. The discovery of this Han Dynasty's post site has great significance for understanding the Silk Road and the exchanges between China and the West. Thousands of years ago, I do not know why the hanging spring was abandoned, gradually obliterating in the vast history, leaving countless mysteries waiting for future generations to solve.
At present, the attractions have been closed, and you can only imagine the traffic through the door! Not far away, the road is being built, I hope to be convenient to go soon, unlike the sand road now! You can only drive an off-road vehicle!
Although this site is very precious, it is not visible and is protected. According to the staff who care there, the exhibition hall may be built, and the specific time is unclear. In that small house, there are some photos and pictures, posted here, give a reminder to interested friends. From Dunhuang to Guazhou, about 60 kilometers south of the road, there is a house, from the house to the mountain direction, there is a wire fence protection. According to the guards, their drinking water is taken from the spring water in the mountain.
The scenery along the way is the endless Gobi and the form of the fire-burned mountain, you must walk for more than an hour to reach this place, a little secluded feeling
The Xuanquan site belongs to the key cultural relics protection unit in the country and is located in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. The name is determined by the unearthed Han Jian's book "Suspension Spring". The site was first discovered by the Jiuquan Area Cultural Relics Survey Team in 1987. From 1990 to 1992, the Institute of Archaeology of Cultural Relics in Gansu Province carried out excavations, with an area of more than 3,000 square meters, and more than 15,000 Han Jian and 17,650 pieces of various kinds of physical objects were unearthed.