The Ancient City of Lapchuk

Located in Sipu Village of Wupu Township in Hami, the city was a garrisoning station of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the seat of the Yi Prefecture of Tang Dynasty. The remained site is composed of two cities. The northern city remains 60m from the east to the west, 125m from the south to the north, and the lower part of the wall was built by ramming the earth, while the upper part was built by laying earth-bricks. There are watchtowers and buttresses on the wall. The southern city only remains the eastern section about 100m long. This section is a double-layered wall, with its outer layer made of rammed earth and inner layer made of layered earth-bricks. It’s obvious that the two layers were built in different times. There still remains a watchtower on the northeastern corner of the southern city, with a height of 15 meters. Inside and around the site, there have been pieces of red sandy and gray pottery, pottery jars with engraving stripes and cordons. Now it is listed as a major cultural site under the autonomous region protection.