Leaning Tower of Hebao

Leaning Tower of Hebao

The Leaning Tower of Hebao is a cultural tourism attraction.

Hebao Town was once a temporary administrative division during the Tang Dynasty and a town under the jurisdiction of Laizhou in the Song Dynasty. Surrounded by mountains, blessed with unique scenery, and rich in cultural heritage, it has been praised as a place “with the charm of the Peach Blossom Spring in Wuhu.” The area features ruins from the Tang Dynasty’s temporary administrative site, the Lengyan Pagoda (a municipal cultural relic) built on the ridge of Jinfeng Mountain during the Song Dynasty, the Golden Ox Temple with calligraphy inscriptions by Su Dongpo and stone tablets engraved by Guang Shiheng, the burial site of Zheng Zhishi, a prefectural governor of Changzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty — the Fahua Temple, the Ming Dynasty dense-eave, bell-shaped stupa with a reliquary at the front of the Bao’en Temple on Jinfeng Mountain (the leaning tower), the ruins of the Bao’en Temple where Liu Tiancheng, the tutor of Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, once studied, and the French-style twin-tower church — Zhenyuan Hall, built in 1905. These numerous historic sites offer visitors scenic views and opportunities for reflection.

The Leaning Tower of Hebao was built during the Qing Dynasty as a stupa for burying monks. It is a leaning tower formed naturally due to subsidence of the ground. It features relief carvings such as lotus flowers, cloud patterns, and Buddha images. The tower has five levels, is about 10 meters high, 1.5 meters wide, and is circular in shape.