Color-Glazed Tower (Iron Tower)

At the northeast corner of Kaifeng city, stands the oldest color-glazed brick tower remaining in China today. The former tower, made of wood and built in the Song Dynasty unfortunately burned by lightning fire in a later period. In the year 1049 A.D in the Song Dynasty, it was rebuilt of brick and called Baosi Tower. The tower, with its thirteen stories, is 54.66 meters high and octagonal in shape. The outside of the tower was inlayed with brown brick of twenty-eight different molds, making the tower appear iron colored from a far distance; thence it's also been called Iron Tower. There are more than fifty diversified patterns and designs on the bricks, such as flying Apsaras, Buddhas, men of great strength amd unicorns.. Inside the tower, surrounding the central post, is a circling strain with 168 levels rising up to the top.. Every story possesses several big windows. In the main hall to the west of the tower, there is a bronze statue of Buddha that is 5.14 meters high and 12 tons weight, which is cherished as the valuable works of arts cast in the Song-Jin periods.