In 716, the Chancellor Zhang Jiuling constructed a 5 metres (16 ft) wide road through the pass as part of the trade route along the Gan River.

An unswerving course: you clambered aloft On the outskirts of several miles of heavy forest, With flying bridges, clinging to the brink Halfway up a thousand fathoms [900 metres (3,000 ft)] of layered cliffs?

Until recent decades, Mei Pass was an important thoroughfare for the overland trade south to Guangdong, as well as a militarily significant boundary.

In the 1930s, the Communist commander Chen Yi spent three years in the vicinity of Mei Pass fighting a protracted guerilla war against Kuomintang encirclement.

Mei Pass has been designated as a Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the provincial authorities and draws small numbers of domestic tourists.