The Bell Tower, a classical building with carved beams and painted rafters, has been served as the symbol of Xi’an. It stands in the center of the downtown area where the north street, the south street, the west street and the east street meet. And the tower house a huge bell which in ancient times was use to strike the time every morning. This is how the tower got its name. now it is an important historical monument in shaanxi Province. The Bell tower was first built in Ying Xiang temple in 1384 during the Ming dynasty. It was moved to its present site in 1582 as a result of the city‘s expansion program. Ladies and gentlemen, There is a story about the Bell Tower. It’s said that the first emperor of Ming dynasty , Zhu yuanzhang , he was born in a poor family. Both his parent died when he was young, and he had to live a hard life. Later, he went to a temple to become a monk. When he ascended the throne, he was afraid of being deposed by someone of “real dragon”. Therefore, he gave orders to build bell tower all over the county to repress the “dragon spirits”. Xi’an has been the imperial capital city since ancient times. So the “dragon spirits ” must be very strong here. That’s why the bell tower in Xi’an was not only built earlier, but also bigger than the other ones in the country. The base of the tower is 1,337.4 square meters in size, 8.6 meters high and 35.5 meters wide. It was laid with blue bricks all over. The whole building is 36 meters above ground. It is a brick-and –wood structure. The eaves are supported by colored “dou gong” a traditional structural system in which brackets are used to join columns and crossbeams, the use of dou gong made the whole building firm and beautiful.

　　The Drum Tower stands 500 meters to the northwest of the Bell Tower.It was built in 1380.On the north side of the drum tower ,there is a huge drum, and the morning bell on the bell tower is known as the  drum tower.The building is rectangular,with a height and width of 6 meters and a depth of 38meters.The drum tower is a heavy eaves,glazed tile roof,heavy eaves and three drops of water.The building is divided into two layers.Under the eaves of the north and south ,there was a plaque,which was written by emperor qianlong of the qing dynasty:”wenwushengdi”,which was written by Li Yuankuan,a scholar in xianning county.The outer eaves of the drum tower are decorated with dougong.Paint on the ceiling painted cloud patterns,antique,very beautiful.The bell and drum tower meet,making the ancient city of Xi’an more beautiful and spectacular.