Drum Tower in Sanjiang County, Liuzhou

Drum Tower of Sanjiang is the first tower of Dong ethnic. It is a wooden structure as the symbol of Sanjiang County. The shape of Sanjiang Drum Tower looks like a pagoda. The magnificent and elaborate structure with gray color represents Dong minority’s profound culture, both in the architectural field and intelligence. The drum tower of Sanjiang is reputed as the No.1 drum tower of the world.
English Name: Drum Tower of Sanjiang
Chinese Name: 三江塔楼
Opening Hours: 08:00-18:00
Ticket Price: 15 yuan
Best Time: May to October
Recommended Visiting Hours: 1 hour
Address: Yueliang Street, Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China

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Sanjiang Drum Tower

Introduction of Drum Tower

Drum tower is the soul of Dong ethnic village. The drum tower is a wooden structure without any iron nails. The floors of this kind of architecture are from a few ones to dozens of ones variously. A floor number is always an odd number because of the cultural factor. Dong’s drum towers can be the tetrahedral one, the hexahedral one and the octal one. The average height of this kind of tower is around 10 meters, the highest one can be nearly 100 meters.

Reputation

Hailed as “the first Dong drum tower in the world”, Sanjiang Drum Tower, was completed in 2002 as a token of congratulation when it was the fiftieth anniversary of Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, is most famous among all ethnic minorities’ drum towers in China. It provides the local Dong minority with a good site to undertake ethnic assemblies and festival celebrations.

A Project of Sanjiang 50 Years Founding Anniversary

The Drum Tower was exquisitely constructed by a folk architect team led by Dong Master Yang Siyu. The body of the tower is made up of wood without using any nail but marvelously keeps solid. It has four floors of viewing stand, with the highest one located at the 25th floor. On the foundation support of the tower, exquisite carvings reflecting Dong’s daily life can be seen. With the functions Dong minority culture’s symbol and a famous tourist site, Sanjiang Drum Tower has made four records among its sister constructions:

Four Records Among its Sister Constructions

1. In area: Together with the attached square, Sanjiang Drum Tower occupies an area of 4000 square meters in total, with the base of the tower covers 600 square meters.
2. In height: The tower is 42.6 meters high.
3. In floor: Sanjiang Drum Tower has 27 floors of turnup tile-eaves totally, presenting in the shape of pyramid.
4. Biggest backbone: Each of the four major pillars of the tower is over 70 cm in diameter, with two of them being 208 years old and the other two being over one hundred years. That is rare in traditional tower construction in China.

Useful Travel Tips

Travel Information
Admission: 15 yuan
Transportation
You can take a private coach to the Sanjiang Drum Tower from the downtown of Liuzhou or Guilin.
The recommended hour for a visit is about 1 hour.
The best time to visit there is from May to October.