Iron Pagoda

Explore Kaifeng with the Premier China Tour Agency

Iron Pagoda is located in the Iron Pagoda Park in the northeast of Kaifeng City in Henan Province China. With its sophisticated architecture, lofty height and magnificent scale, Iron Pagoda is known as “The First Pagoda under Heaven”.

The Iron Pagoda is 186 feet (56.88 meters), making it the highest glazed-bricked pagoda in China. The pagoda is timber-made and paved with glazed bricks. The glazed brick is carved with 50-plus patterns, ranging from lifelike flying apsaras (celestial nymphs, according to Buddhist and Hindu mythology), Buddhist statues, and dancing, to music, flowers, and totems.

Most surprising is that the bricks of this pagoda could be easily grooved, and thus each brick could embed to others easily and seamlessly.

Each story of the pagoda is equipped with a small window, with real windows on even stories and pictures of windows on odd stories. On the eaves of the pagoda hang 104 bells, which swing with breeze, playing music throughout the day. Inside of the pagoda are 168 steps revolving with the pillar in the center, and visitors can climb along the buttress ascending to the top. Standing on the top of the pagoda, visitors could have a bird’s eye view of the surroundings, the grass-carpeted lands, the meandering Yangtze River, and boundless skyline in the distance.

Although constructed many centuries ago, the iron pagoda keeps still and solid after having endured 38 earthquakes, hails, windstorms, and 16 floods in its history. It even managed to survive the attack from the Japanese by plane and artillery in 1938. Today, the iron pagoda appeals to endless travelers, enticing them to pay a visit.