The Ancient Cliff House (Guyaju), 'the biggest maze of China', was a considerable discovery relating to the study of ancient Chinese people who inhabited this north part of the country. Therefore, no precise record of it has ever been found yet, so nobody exactly knows its origins. Almost 92 KM (about 57 miles) from Beijing, the house was hewn from the craggy cliffs overlooking Zhangshanying Town, Yanqing County. The fascinating house complex has more than 110 stone rooms, and is the largest cliff residence ever discovered in China.
More importantly on each side of the precipitous cliffs, adjacent stone houses, rectangular and square, large and small, were built. These homes vary in sizes, from over 20 square meters to 3-4 square meters. A number of houses are interlinked perpendicularly, while some are interconnected horizontally. Few have a single room, while some have 2 to 3 connecting rooms. Stone steps, and stone ladders are used to connect the storeys of a complete cliff house. Stone lamp-stands, stone hearths, closets, and mangers in the caves, the windows and gates all remain as traces of their strange ancient inhabitants. Moreover; few houses were built with kangs, a kind of bed which can be heated from below on cold days.
The most enthralling one is a two-storey stone house, with six finely engraved stone pillars propping it up. Within the house, there is a wing enclosing a small room with a stone table, stone stools, and a broad stone bed. This shrewdly constructed stone room is at the highest spot of the cliff house, and is considered to be the residence of a chief of the day. Standing on its upper floor, tourists can view a superb panorama of the nearby areas. The miraculous ancient cliff house is waiting for you to throw off her veil to the world.
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