Atlas of China
Bianjing Drum Tower 边靖楼Biānjìng Lóu
National heritage site · Xinzhou, Shanxi
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Xinzhou
- Region
- Shanxi
- Type
- Heritage
- Listed as
- National heritage site
About Bianjing Drum Tower
A three-storey timber drum tower on a high masonry base at the central crossroads of Daixian's old town, rebuilt in 1476 after a fire destroyed the first tower of 1374. The base is about 13 m high with an arched passage through it, and the tower rises to roughly 40 m with four tiers of eaves and a plaque reading 'First Tower of Yanmen'. It was built for military observation and signalling on the approach to Yanmen Pass, and a steep, narrow stair leads up inside.
How to get to Bianjing Drum Tower
At the central crossroads of the old town of Daixian, the seat of Dai County, about 75 km north of Xinzhou.
Nearby
- Yanmen Pass 雁门关 20 km
A Ming fortress gate on the Inner Great Wall, its ramparts running up the mountain ridges - Foguang Temple 佛光寺 40 km
A Tang timber hall of 857 on a quiet hillside, still filled with its Tang clay statues - Mount Wutai 五台山 60 km
Temples, a towering white stupa and yellow-tiled roofs below five flat-topped holy peaks - Yingxian Wooden Pagoda 应县木塔 60 km
A Liao-dynasty timber pagoda of 1056, five storeys outside and nine within
Also within 20 km: Daixian Confucian Temple 代县文庙 (under 10 km), Ayuwang Pagoda 阿育王塔 (under 10 km), Daizhou Ancient City 代州古城 (under 10 km).
On the map
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