Brief information on Drum Tower  

As the sister tower of the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower is the only ancient architectural work on a par with this tower in Xian City. It is located on the north side of the West Avenue, and faces the Bell Tower in the central city area.

The Drum Tower was initially built in 1380 in the Ming Dynasty. It is a two-storied building rising up from a rectangular brick base, under a vaulted archway, with a triple roof and a winding corridor around. The tower roof is covered with grey tiles and the edge is trimmed with green glazed tiles. The builders of this Drum Tower made some innovations from the basis of Tang and Song construction styles. The building emphasizes wooden tenon and cottar joints instead of nails, which is a scientific corbel construction style, and offers the tower splendid, elegant and national characteristics.

Originally the Drum Tower housed a large drum; the Wentian Drum (the name indicates that the rhythms of the drum could be heard even in heaven). The drum tourists now see is a 1996-built imitation; listed as a ‘Key National Cultural Relics’ Preservation’. The city government reintroduced the activity of striking the bell in the morning and playing the drum in the evening, another sight in this ancient city. In addition, the Drum Tower carries many exhibitions, including ancient musical instruments, drum cultures and some exquisite Qing Dynasty furniture. The professional performance gives some cultural freshness to the other exhibitions and increases the Drum Tower’s popularity.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Drum Tower if you plan to visit Drum Tower and have language problems.

   

Chinese Pinyin: Gu Lou
Opening Times: 09:00-18:00
TIcket Price: CNY 30 in peak season, CNY 20 in dull season
Location: city center
How to Get to: take bus No. 32, 43, 45, 201, 205, 206, 215, 218, 221, 222, 251, 300, 604, 611 or 612