Longxing Pagoda

Longxing Pagoda

Longxing Pagoda is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Mysterious Smoking Pagoda — Longxing Pagoda is located on a high cliff at the northern end of Beijie Street in Xinjiang County. When you get off at Nanguan in the county town, cross the small makeshift pontoon bridge, or drive across the Fenhe River Bridge upstream from the pontoon bridge, as soon as you step onto the bustling streets of Xinjiang County, you can gaze into the distance at the rising smoke from Longxing Pagoda.

As you near Xinjiang, in this ox-shaped county town, the first thing you see is Longxing Pagoda. It sits at the highest point of the town, standing tall and strikingly prominent, seemingly waving to welcome visitors from afar and returning locals. Walk along Longxing Avenue, climb the steps, and look toward the pagoda. This 43-meter-tall pagoda, built during the Tang Dynasty and renovated during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong reign, is named after Emperor Taizu of Song, who once stayed here. The pagoda is as white as jade, with eight sides adorned with flying eaves and wind bells that tinkle melodiously in the breeze, creating a beautiful musical sound. Though it may not be as tall as the Flying Rainbow Pagoda of Hongtong Guangsheng Upper Temple, nor as majestic as the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, Longxing Pagoda has its own mysteries. On one side of the pagoda, an inscription records that its top frequently emits blue smoke—a wonder and a mystery in the world. This phenomenon was clearly documented a hundred years ago: “In the year of Guihai (1899) during the Guangxu reign, smoke rose from the pagoda’s top, seen as a sign of rapid rise to success.” Later, in the 1940s, 1960s, and 1970s, there were more incidents of the pagoda smoking, with the most recent occurrence in August 1993 when blue smoke once again rose from the pagoda, attracting tens of thousands of people from three provinces and eight counties and cities who came to witness the spectacle. Domestic experts have conducted numerous investigations into why the pagoda smokes, but no definitive explanation has been found. During one smoking incident in the 1970s, some speculated it was caused by swarms of mosquitoes. A local resident bravely climbed the iron ladder on the pagoda and, holding a white cloth dipped in honey, tried to swat at the source of the smoke. He then leapt down from the pagoda, unfolded the cloth, and found no mosquitoes. During the 1993 Mid-Autumn Festival smoking event, people used a camera to zoom in on the smoke rising over 40 meters high. At first glance, it looked like swarms of insects, but upon closer inspection, it seemed something else entirely. The debate continues, with no conclusive answer.

The mystery of Longxing Pagoda likely lies in the iron gourd atop its spire. Looking at pagodas around the world, they come in all shapes and sizes, but it’s rare to find one topped with a several-hundred-kilogram iron gourd. In the past, when people built pagodas, they often buried treasures beneath them—such as relics of Buddha, gold, silver, or other rare items. But Longxing Pagoda places its treasure atop the spire, causing it to emit smoke frequently under certain conditions. That is its most ingenious feature.