Xi’an Bell Tower

Bell Tower is situated at the heart of Xi’an city at the main crossing junction of the East, West, South and North avenue. It is considered symbol of Xi’an today. It was built in 1384 by Emperor Zhuyuanzhang during the early Ming Dynasty as a way to dominate the surrounding country side and provide early warning of attack by rival rulers.

The original location of the Bell Tower was shifted to the west side of the city due to the expansion of city in 1582. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Qing Dynasty. People turndown the original Bell Tower and Re-built the current tower to the centre of the city.

The base of the tower is square shape and covers an area of 1,377 square meters. It is 8.6 meters high, 35.5 meters wide and built by bricks. Brick and timber used as a construction material for the 36 meters high tower. There are three layers of eave can be seen from exterior of the building but only two layers are visible from inside. The engraved arcs under each eaves come with coloured designs. This type of designs on the arc has already appeared in the construction of Shang Dynasty (1,600 BC-1,100 BC) bronze ware.

Bell Tower also has some large bronze bells from Tang Dynasty which used to tell the time by. There are also other smaller bells on exhibit too.

Visitors accessed to the Bell Tower from the Subway Station on Beidajie