As the Yangtze River and Yellow River have their own headwaters, the Ming Dynasty Great Wall also has its head. It is called the Dragon Head, standing on the beach in Shanhaiguan.

The legend says there used to be a large number of big cooking pans lying upside down one next to another at the foot of the Great Wall.

The Dragon Head was built on the order of the emperor by Qi Jiguang, the then military commander of Jizhen Town . As over 20 meters of it had to stand in the sea, it was extremely difficult to build. 1500 soldiers and workers had to wait for intervals of tides to work every minute on it. However, the wall could not be completed. Every time the wall rose to about a meter, the roaring waves would come and destroyed it. Some workers even got drowned. Everyday the wall was being built, and everyday it came back to ruins. Qi Jiguang could do nothing to help.

Ming Dynasty had more bad ministers than good ones. Emperor Wanli was a fatuous and self-indulgent ruler. As rumors came that Qi Jiguang was spending too much money and labor on the construction of 23 passes with 3000 beacon towers and iron cannons of 2500 kilograms, he tended to believe it and sent one of his eunuchs as an envoy to Jizhen Town . On his way at Jizhou, the eunuch envoy learned that Qj Jiguang was building the Dragon Head. He hurried to Shanhaiguan only to find that Shanhaiguan squires were waiting for him and begged him not to stop the construction of the Dragon Head as enemies would invade frequently from the sea. When the envoy explained that the emperor's order allow them only 3 more days to complete the Dragon Head and nobody could change the order, Qi Jiguan got angry as he knew that it was nothing but an excuse to get him punished. It was not the coming punishment that worried him, it was the safety of the people and the country, because all his 1300 beacons towers had already constructed except the Dragon Head. As he was still worrying about it, the door opened and an old man came in. He was a cook having served Qi's army for years. After putting food on the table, he asked Qi to eat and told him he had an idea that might be good for the construction of the Dragon Head.

The following day, the whole army was ordered to put up their big pans and cook on the ebb-tided beach. Smoke rose up from the beach that stretched miles. All of a sudden, big waves arrived and the army fled without the pans.

3 days later, when Qi came to the beach to see the foundation of the Dragon Head, he was amazed to find it was safe and sound. The old man came pointing at the small sand-covered hills and told him that those were indeed the deserted pans and explained that those pans would not make a move no matter how strong waves came to strike.

The Dragon Head was completed in time, but that was not much help to Qi who was later posted to Guangzhou .

“ Lady Mengjiang Temple ” and its story about the Great Wall and a lady's chastity

Lady Mengjiang Temple , also known as the Temple of Chastity , stands on a hill of dozens of meters above sea level, looking abrupt and conspicuous with its open surroundings in a background of the distant mountains and the sea looking far away.

The Temple of Lady Mengjiang is an outcome of “Lady Mengjiang Crying at the Great Wall”, one of China 's 4 great legends. Besides the statue of Lady Mengjiang, the statues of Bodhisattva Kwan-yin, Wen Shu and Pu Xian are also housed in the temple.

Behind the major palace of the temple is a standing rock, on which a trail of foot-print like holes is found going its way up. Legend says these “foot prints” were left by Lady Mengjiang when she mounted the rock seeking her husband. Carved in the rock are 3 words of “Seeking Husband Rock”. Beside the words is a poem written by Emperor Qianlong.

Displayed In the temple are words written by ancient people in praise of Lady Mengjiang, of which Emperors Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang ‘s words are carved on the wall. One of the must-sees to visitors is a couplet at sides of the gate that describes with amazing language skills the impressive scenery of the temple and its surrounding areas.

Standing on the hill looking southeast at the sea, you'll find two rocks standing side by side. Those are believed in legends to be the Tomb of Lady Mengjiang.

Xiao Xian Writes the Plaque

Xiao Xian was staying at home after he resigned from his position in Fujian . The emperor ordered the military general to hang a plague on Shanhaiguan East Gate to show the power of the country. The military general practiced a lot but he was not satisfied with his calligraphy. He asked many a scholar to write, but none of them proved to be good enough. He then remembered Xiao Xian and came to his house for help. Xiao Xian promised to help as he found the general was quite sincere. From then on, Xiao Xian kept himself in his courtyard practicing with a shoulder pole for stronger arms. Every time he came to see Xiao, he saw he was practicing with the pole, sweated all over. He meant to hurry him as the date was drawing near, but he couldn't.

One day, the emperor sent a envoy to see if the plague was finished. The general was got so upset that he came to tell Xiao immediately. Xiao told him in a regret that his arms were not strong enough, but he would manage to do it. The paper was laid and the words were successfully written in a minute. The plague was carved quickly and put up just in time for the envoy arrived to see it.

But suddenly, to the general's fright, Xiao found that one of the words on the plague needed one more stroke to complete. He gently took out his handkerchief, soaked it in some ink and threw it at the word where the stroke should have been. The throw was accurate and precise to make the word perfect. Coming back from his panic, the general bowed to Xiao and said: “Amazing!”