Bell Tower 钟楼

About Bell Tower

The timber pavilion stands on a tall brick platform and was moved to this position in 1582 after being built farther west in 1384. Its architecture and elevated outlook explain its role as a civic time signal. The bell displayed here is a modern replica of the Tang Jingyun Bell; the original is preserved at the Beilin Museum.

The tower's precursor stood at Yingxiang Temple (迎祥观) on Guangji Street, north of West Street, about one kilometre from its present site and directly facing the Drum Tower; it then stood opposite the city's north and south gates, at the city center of the time. As Chang'an expanded in the early Ming dynasty the city center shifted eastward, and once the gates were rebuilt into the new four streets the tower at Yingxiang Temple no longer stood at the center.

In 1582, the Shaanxi investigating censor Gong Yuxian (龔懋賢) ordered the county magistrates of Xianning and Chang'an to relocate the tower to its present site; the platform was rebuilt, but the tower's original structure and materials were reused, keeping costs low and the work quick. Gong Yuxian's 'Ode to the Bell Tower Relocating East' (钟楼东迁歌) recorded the details of the project.

The tower has a square base covering an area of 1,377 square metres and stands close to 40 metres high as a brick and timber structure. It lies on the axis of the Imperial Way, at the center of the city where the streets of the east, west, south and north intersect.

What to look for

• The layered timber pavilion and brick platform at the centre of the old-city street plan.
• The replica Jingyun Bell and displays explaining the tower’s timekeeping role.

Location & getting there

Getting to Bell Tower

Use Zhonglou metro station and the pedestrian underpass to reach the tower’s traffic-island entrance.

• The surrounding roads are busy; follow the signed underground visitor connection rather than crossing the roundabout.