Located at Yingxian, 80km south of Datong, the Wooden Pagoda is the world’s oldest and tallest wooden pagoda first built in 1056 of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125).

Towering 67.13 meters, the octagonal pagoda is one of the few surviving examples of a Song-Dynasty pagoda, rich in detail, dynamic in bracketing, and noble in proportion. The pagoda is 115 years older and 12.57 meters taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy (54.56 meters high). It is said that not a single nail was used in the construction of the nine-storey wooden structure (5-storey from outside look).

To save the nearly one-thousand-year-old wooden pagoda, great efforts have been made for the renovation and protection since 1989. Experts were invited to get together and find out the solutions of repairing it and preserving its original appearance.

Datong Photo Gallery