The Bell Tower

The Bell Tower is situated in the center of the Xi'an City. It was built in 1384 (the 17th year of the Ming Hongwu Era) originally at the end of today's Guanji Street , and was moved to the current position in 1582 (the 10th year of the Ming Wanli Era). It was ever rebuilt in 1740 (the 5th year of the Qing Qianlong Era). In the past time, the copper bell was hung in the tower to give the correct time at dawn, so it's named as the Bell Tower .
Made of blue bricks, the base platform looks like a square, 8.6 meters high and 35.5 meters wide, and covers more than 1370 square meters. Its height altogether is 36 meters from the ground to the top of the tower. It's a magnificent construction rich in national style of classic elegance and beauty. It's totally made of bricks and wood covered with deep green colored glaze tile, eaves and rooms overlapping, each of the four corners has 4 peaks, hoppers, Zaojing (also decorations), woodcarving and colored drawing are decorated at each floor. The whole city will appear before your eyes if you climb the tower and look into the distance.
The new bell in the ancient city Xi'an resembles the Jingyun Bell of the Tang Dynasty, and was beat at dawn in the new Ding Chou spring, and from then this sight have reappeared in the ancient city. The original Jingyun Bell of the Tang Dynasty is now the state level cultural relic, it's the most famous bronze bell in existence. Its timbre is purely beautiful, and of delicate workmanship, and it was floridly decorated and inscribed by Tang Ruizong. Originally, it was hung in the tower to tell the correct time. In order to use the cultural resource fully, the Bureau of the Xi'an Cultural Relic made a bell resembling the Jingyun Bell. Its total height is 2.45 meters, weight 6.5 tons, and the outside diameter of the bell skirt is 1.65 meters. Besides the sculpt, grain decoration and inscription of the new one are all the same as those of the old.

The Drum Tower is on the northern side of the western street in the city. It was built in 1380 (the 13th year of Ming Hongwu Era), and were rebuilt in 1699 (the 38th year of the Qing Kangxi Era) and in 1740 (the 5th year of the Qing Qianlong Era). It's named as the Drum Tower because of the big drum placed on the tower, which was hit at dusk everyday for giving the correct time. The Drum Tower is altogether 33 meters high, 52.6 meters wide, covering more than 1970 square meters. The midmost hollow are gate from the south to the north is both 6 meters in the height and width, and it's 38 meters long from the south to the north, and 52 meters from the east to the west. The Drum Tower is a two-floor tower, and its structure is straight up like a pole, with double eaves and Xieshan roof. The tower is clear in arrangement because its outside eaves and flat base are all decorated with blue green hoppers. The Drum Tower is of abundant vitality and of grandiosity as the completion of the Bell Drum Tower Square gives more prominence to its scene. In the new Ding Chou spring, happiness could be felt directly as the newly produced great drum was placed in the Drum Tower . Made of and covered by only one piece of high quality ox hide, the big drum is 1.80 meters high, and its diameter is 2.83 meters. Its weight is 1.5 tons, and the stomach diameter is 3.43 meters. The number of the nails on it is 1996 symbolizing the year 1996, and with the added 4 copper rings, the total number is 2000 which symbolizes the year 2000, thus urging us to win our way and go to the 21st century. The new drum sounds sonorous and heavy, and can be heard 10 Li away if it is beat heavily. And this drum has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.