[2025 Dai County Attraction] Travel Guide for Ashoka Tower (Updated Feb)

Attractions: 1️⃣ Yanmen Pass: We recommend navigating to the north gate, which is closer to the main attractions. The route is Yang Family Sculpture - Bianmao Street - Yanta - Tianxian Gate - Zhenbian Temple, which takes about two hours. 2️⃣ Dai County: After visiting Yanmen Pass, head straight to Dai County. Be careful when driving through the Yanmen Eighteen Bends. Luckily, most of the snow from a few days ago has melted. Dai County Ancient City is small but worth a visit. Park your car at the Confucian Temple parking lot and go for a city walk. Confucian Temple - Martial Temple - Bianjing Tower - Ayuwang Pagoda, a dialogue with history. PS: A joint ticket for the Confucian Temple and Bianjing Tower is CNY 40. Ayuwang Pagoda is located inside the Dai County Government, so you need to enter through the government gate. 3️⃣ Xinzhou Ancient City: Parking is difficult. The ancient city is large, and the main streets are crowded with people. However, I think the ancient city is quite fun. Leave the main street and head towards Xiyuan. Pass by Xiurong Academy, and you will find an opera stage, iron flower show, lantern show, and more. You can get three free incense sticks at Taishan Temple. Food: We ate at a Dingxiang Restaurant near Taishan Temple in Xinzhou Ancient City (steamed meat, helao noodles, fried cake with pork, all delicious). There are also many snacks, such as yellow rice cakes and Shenchi mooncakes.

Bell and Drum Towers are traditional Chinese architecture, referring to bell towers and drum towers, and were mainly used for timekeeping in ancient China. There are two types of Bell and Drum Towers, one built in the palace and the other in the city center, mostly two-story buildings. The Dai County Bell Tower is a brick and wood structure built before the 14th year of the Chenghua period of the Ming dynasty. The interior of the bell tower is not open to the public, so you can only view it from the outside. It is worth mentioning that there is an iron bell in the bell tower, which was built in the Jin dynasty and was used to transmit messages and warn of military situations. The bell tower and the drum tower (Bianjing Tower) complement each other, forming the unique scenery of Dai County. The ancient is always a little sad. For more than 500 years, it has quietly spread over the vast land outside the pass, letting the wind and sand rage. Tile, eaves, roof ridge beasts, cross-hipped roof... I approached it quietly with awe, not daring to be presumptuous, not daring to be ostentatious, just a visit... With songs as a gift, I pay tribute to the mountains and rivers, to the years, and to the light of China. 📌TIPS: 📍Location: Search for Dai County Bell Tower in the navigation. 💰Ticket: Free 🅿️Parking: The bell tower is next to the county government, and there is a parking lot next to the county government, free parking. ⏱️Tour time: 15-20 minutes 💚Nearby: The bell tower is located in Dai County Ancient City, and the open attractions in the ancient city are not far away, so you can park your car in one place and walk around, which is more convenient. Ayuwang Pagoda - Mao Zedong's Residence - Glazed Well - Zhou Dai's Residence - Dai County Bell Tower - Bianjing Tower - General Temple - Dai County Confucian Temple You can visit them in one day. 🧡There are parking lots in front of Bianjing Tower and Confucian Temple, which charge 10 yuan for the first three hours, and 2 yuan per hour thereafter, with a maximum charge of 12 hours, and 24 hours as a billing cycle. 💚Dai County specialties: 🌈Dai County yellow wine, Dai County chili, Dai County crisp pear, Dai County sorghum noodles 🌈Dai County yellow wine is a major specialty of Dai County, with a long history and unique brewing process. It is golden in color, mild and mellow, and has enjoyed the reputation of "Dai County golden wave and jade crisp" since the Song dynasty. 🧡Clothing: In ancient times, the border area was 3-4 degrees lower than the south of Dai County, and it was windy, so bring a thick coat to keep warm.

Origin of Ayuwang Pagoda: The well-known Ayuwang was an ancient Indian king in the 3rd century BC. He was known for his reformation and devotion to Buddhism. He built 84,000 pagodas around the world, including in China, to enshrine the relics of Sakyamuni Buddha, which were originally divided among eight countries. All the pagodas he built were called "Ayuwang Pagoda." Therefore, Ayuwang Pagoda is just a general term. Origin of the name: Ancient Ayuwang Pagodas had their own unique names. The Ayuwang Pagoda in Daixian is also known as "Daizhou Pagoda" or "Dai Pagoda" for short. It was called "Pizha" and "Longxing" in the Sui Dynasty, "Yuan Guo" in the Tang Dynasty, and the same in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ayuwang Pagoda that is preserved today is located in the Yuanguo Temple in the ancient city of Daizhou. It was first built in 601 AD during the Sui Dynasty and was originally a wooden structure. It suffered three disasters over the next 600 years and was rebuilt as a brick pagoda in the 12th year of the Yuan Dynasty. The Ayuwang Pagoda has harmonious proportions and exquisite brick carvings, making it a masterpiece of Yuan Dynasty Lama pagodas in China. Special features: The base of a Lama pagoda is usually square, but this pagoda has a round base. It is an example and model of early Lama pagodas in the Central Plains, along with the White Pagoda of Miaoying Temple in Beijing. 📌TIPS: 📍Location: Search for Ayuwang Pagoda in the navigation app. 💰Tickets: Free 🅿️Parking: There is a parking lot in front of Ayuwang Pagoda, next to the county government, with free parking. ⏱️Opening hours: 8:00–16:00 ⌚️Visit duration: 15–30 minutes 💙Nearby: The Ayuwang Pagoda is located in the ancient city of Daizhou. The open attractions in the ancient city are not far from each other, so you can park your car in one place and walk around, which is convenient. 🔶Ayuwang Pagoda - Mao Zedong Road Residence - Glazed Well - Zhou Dai Residence - Daizhou Bell Tower - Bianjing Tower - General Temple - Daizhou Confucian Temple You can visit them all in one day. 🔶There are parking lots in front of Bianjing Tower and Confucian Temple, with a fee of CNY 10 for the first three hours, and CNY 2 for each additional hour, with a maximum charge for 12 hours. The charging cycle is 24 hours. 💙Daizhou specialties: 🔶Daizhou yellow wine, Daizhou chili, Daizhou pear, Daizhou sorghum noodles 🔶Daizhou yellow wine is a famous specialty of Daixian, with a long history and unique brewing process. It has a golden color and a mild and mellow aroma. It was praised as "Daizhou golden wave and jade cream" as early as the Song Dynasty. 💙Clothing: As an ancient frontier area, the temperature is 3–4 degrees lower than that of the south of Daizhou, and it is windy. So, bring a thick coat to keep warm.

| A living ancient city. 📍 Dai County, formerly known as Dai Prefecture, is under the jurisdiction of Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province. It is 20 kilometers north of Yanmen Pass and has been a frontier fortress and military town guarding the north throughout the ages. "The Yinshan Mountains stretch north for 3,000 miles, and the first prefecture south of the Zise Pass", the small county has three national protected units: Bianjing Tower, Confucian Temple, and Ashoka Pagoda. Liang Sicheng once praised the Dai Prefecture Ancient City as "a wonderful plan", which is enough to show its profound historical and cultural heritage. 🏯 This is the last city inside Yanmen Pass, a historical and cultural city of China, and a severely underestimated treasure city. Stroll through the Dai Prefecture Ancient City and encounter historical civilizations scattered throughout the streets and alleys. 🎓 Confucian Temple 🎓 The Dai County Confucian Temple faces south, with three courtyards in front, middle, and back. It adopts a symmetrical layout on the central axis. From south to north, they are Wanrenfang, Lingxing Gate, Panchi, Jimen, Dacheng Hall, and Jingyi Pavilion. In front of Jimen, there are three temples: Minghuan, Xianxian, and Jiexiao. On both sides of Dacheng Hall, there are fifteen corridors. The Dai County Confucian Temple is large and well-preserved. It is a valuable material for studying the development of Chinese cultural education. The glazed dragon in the middle of the wall of the Lingxing Gate and the brick carvings below the flying eaves are of high historical and artistic value. 🍃 🌟 Martial Temple 🌟 The Dai Prefecture Martial Temple faces east. There are a pair of stone lions and a flagpole in front of the gate. Drum towers and bell towers are built in the north and south. There are five archways, with the words "Martial Temple" and "Zhuangmu Zhongwu" written on the plaque of the middle archway. The overall architecture is magnificent. The main hall of the Martial Temple is built on a one-meter-high platform. The architecture is magnificent, the structure is exquisite, and the atmosphere is solemn. It has a typical northern Jin and Yuan architectural style. It is the only existing and oldest hip-and-gable roof wooden structure in Dai County, with a history of 691 years. 🎖 🛡 Bianjing Tower 🛡 Bianjing Tower, commonly known as Drum Tower, also known as Qiaolou, means "pacifying the border and calming the people". It was a military facility in ancient times for watching enemies, beating drums, and commanding operations. It was built by Lu Zhonghe, Marquis of Ji'an, who was demoted to Dai County to arrest thieves during the early Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Bianjing Tower is magnificent, simple, and ancient. The tower base is high, the beams are exquisite, and the structure is tight and reasonable. After hundreds of years of wind and rain erosion and multiple earthquakes, it is still intact. 🔭 🛡 Ashoka Pagoda 🛡 Ashoka Pagoda is located in the northeast of the county government in Dai County, facing Bianjing Tower. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. Commonly known as the Pagoda, it was originally the pagoda of Yuanguo Temple in Dai County. The pagoda was first built in 601 AD during the Sui Dynasty. It was originally a wooden pagoda and was destroyed in 842 AD during the Huichang period of the Tang Dynasty. It was rebuilt in 847 AD during the Dazhong period. After several ups and downs, it was rebuilt as a brick pagoda in 1275 AD. Today's Ashoka Pagoda is located in the courtyard of the Dai County Government. Only the gate of this ancient government office is still in its original style. 🚶‍♂️ Tour route: Confucian Temple🔜 Bianjing Tower🔜 Ashoka Pagoda, the three attractions are very close, the whole journey is about 1.6km, no backtracking. 🎫 Tickets: Bianjing Tower + Confucian Temple joint ticket 40r, you can climb the Bianjing Tower city wall, very worthwhile. 🕘 Tour time: 2-3 hours Dai County·Xinzhou

Ashoka Pagoda is a Buddhist structure with profound historical and cultural significance, named after the ancient Indian King Ashoka. The construction of Ashoka Pagodas in China began during the Eastern Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. According to statistics, there are a total of 19 Ashoka Pagodas across China. The Ashoka Pagoda I am referring to is located at No. 16 Cang Street, Dai County, Shanxi, within the Yuan Guo Temple, situated in the backyard of the Dai County Government Office, commonly known as the White Pagoda. It stands opposite the Bianjing Tower in the ancient city, competing in elegance. The Ashoka Pagoda in the ancient city of Dai County was first built in the first year of the Renshou era of the Sui Dynasty (601 AD). Originally a wooden structure called 'Longxing,' it was destroyed during the Huichang era of the Tang Dynasty (842 AD) and rebuilt in the first year of the Dazhong era (847 AD), renamed 'Yuan Guo.' It was burned down in the second year of the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1079 AD) and rebuilt in the first year of the Chongning era (1102 AD). It was destroyed again by Yuan soldiers in the eleventh year of the Jiading era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1079 AD). After enduring three calamities over more than 600 years, it was rebuilt as a brick pagoda in the twelfth year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty (1275 AD). The pagoda is conical in shape, with a Tibetan Buddhist style. The base of the pagoda is rectangular, measuring 50 meters from north to south, 30 meters from east to west, and 1.5 meters high, with the pagoda built at the center of the base. The pagoda is exquisitely constructed, with harmonious proportions, and holds significant value for cultural relic research. Liang Sicheng once called it 'the best-proportioned bottle-shaped pagoda in China.' Luo Zhewen commented, 'If the unique shape of the Ashoka Pagoda in Dai County is not the best in the country, I cannot be sure; but if it is the second best, I have never seen the first.' Its unique value is evident. On May 24, 1965, the Ashoka Pagoda was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit in Shanxi Province by the Shanxi Provincial People's Government. On July 16, 2001, the Ashoka Pagoda was designated as a national cultural relic protection unit by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Ticket Information: Free Opening Hours: All day Transportation Guide: Walk 170 meters from the Dai County Government Office to reach the pagoda.

| Experience the national historical and cultural city.🌟After leaving Yanmenguan and navigating to Daixian, you will enter the 18 bends of Yanmen dangerous road. As the name suggests, this section of the road has many bends, and the scenery is also very good. The shock of turning a bend and the green mountains appearing directly in front of you is indescribable. ♦The ancient city of Daizhou is the main support for Daixian as a national historical and cultural city. It is a famous border and military town in ancient China and a major commercial port for cultural exchanges between the north and south of ancient China. 'Three thousand miles north of Yinshan Mountain, the first state south of Zisai.' The master architect Liang Sicheng once said that the planning of the ancient city of Daizhou is very wonderful. The ancient city of Daixian is commonly known as the 'missing corner lying ox city'. The city has east, west, south, and north gates, namely Xihe Gate, Kangfu Gate, Yingxun Gate, and Zhenzhuo Gate. The plaques on the door lintels are engraved with 'Ping Fan Ji Dian', 'Che Fu Jin Yang', 'Hu Tuo Dai Rao', and 'Guang Wu Yun Tun'. There are three national protected cultural relics in the ancient city, namely the Border Jing Tower, the Ashoka Tower, and the Confucius Temple. The county town is not big, it is just a few minutes by car, and it is also very suitable for walking. ♦The Ashoka Tower is located in the county government compound, and you can drive in without registration. In fact, the Ashoka Tower is not its name but its type. Because the cylindrical spire tower was very popular during the reign of Ashoka, it was later called the Ashoka Tower. The Ashoka Tower in Daixian was built during the Sui Dynasty. After experiencing many wars and destructions, it was changed from wood to brick during the Yuan Dynasty. It is a relatively rare Tibetan-style covered bowl tower. When I first saw the tower, I just felt that it was really big, and my heart became extremely calm after walking around the tower three times. ♦The Border Jing Tower is the drum tower of Daixian, echoing Yanmenguan from a distance, and is praised by the Great Wall experts as the 'First Tower of the Great Wall'. There are two giant plaques on the tower, which are 'Sound Heard Four Directions' and 'Might Shakes Three Passes'. The floor tiles used on the ground are all engraved with the word 'official'. In fact, there is no need to climb up, you can directly feel its solemnity and majesty from below. The fact that such a small county has such a towering Border Jing Tower is enough to prove its importance in ancient geographical location. ♦Wenchang Temple, when waiting for the green light, I just saw it and took a quick snapshot. After visiting the ancient city of Daixian, I went to Xinzhou for dinner and chose Xiurong Xiaoguan. To be honest, it was really amazing. I ordered the signature Beijing-style shredded pork, mutton shao mai and knife-cut noodles, all of which were delicious and affordable, recommended!

On a sunny Thursday, I drove from Jining to Jinan. On the way, I deliberately detoured to Wenshang County to visit the coveted Baoxiang Temple. This temple located in a small county town, large and quiet, has become my favorite spot in Jining. Baoxiang Temple, enjoys the reputation of "the first scenic spot in the Northern Dynasty, the first Taoist site in the Eastern Land". It treasures the real tooth of Sakyamuni and several relics, which is the largest number of relic excavation sites in the country, demonstrating its supreme status in Buddhism. The oldest core relic in the temple is the Prince Lingzong Pagoda, a building built in the Song Dynasty, which imitates the Linggan Pagoda of Kaibao Temple in the capital, used to worship Buddha's teeth. The entire temple is of very high standard, the main hall is majestic, but when you go deep into it, you feel a deep silence. On the north side of the ancient temple, the newly built Baoxiang Palace is particularly eye-catching. The design at the top imitates the shape of the Ashoka Pagoda, which is very shocking when viewed from a distance. The new and old pagodas complement each other, forming a kind of conflicting beauty, which should be the new landmark that the local government wants to create. Wenshang, a small county town located in Shandong Province, is famous for Baoxiang Temple. Here, you can feel the solemnity of Buddhism, and also appreciate the creativity and beauty of modern architecture.