Dongta Park

Dongta Park

Dongta Park is a cultural tourism attraction.

Dongta Park is located on Dongta Ridge. The entire park centers around the tower and expands outward, covering an area of 6.99 hectares. The park stands majestically at the city’s eastern gateway, adjacent to People’s Square. There is a stone stairway of over a hundred steps leading directly to the southern entrance of the park, and a concrete driveway winds up around the entrance of Dongtian Theatre on Wuyi North Road before entering the park through the western gate. The park is shaded by lush green trees, with a green coverage rate of 93.7%. Major attractions include the Dongta Pagoda, Genyin Villa, the southern entrance, Dongta Chan Temple, Wangjiang Pavilion, as well as a small children’s playground and an architectural feature called “Bieyou Dongtian” (“A World Apart”) that connects to the “Underground World.”

The Dongta Pagoda was originally built in the first year of the Jianyan era during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127) but was later destroyed. In the 14th year of the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty (1834), Xie Chengshi, a local resident, rebuilt it on the original site. Construction was halted at the fourth level due to warfare. In the first year of the Tongzhi era (1862), his son Xie Yong’e completed the pagoda over the next three years. About 20 meters east of the pagoda lies a temple commonly known as Dongta Nunnery, which was built around the same time as the pagoda and is managed by nuns. It houses statues of figures such as Sakyamuni and Guanyin, and is a well-known Buddhist site in the city.