Beijing Bell and Drum Towers are a group of ancient buildings at the northern end of Beijing's central axis, as well as the northern end of Di'anmen Street in Dongcheng District. They are the national key cultural relics of protection. The two buildings with the Drum Tower standing in front and the Bell Tower behind are imposing and majestic. The Bell and Drum Towers are the center for time announcement of the capital city in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1271-1911). The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower echo with each other and perform their respective duties.
The Bell and Drum Towers are public buildings in ancient China for musical reasons at the beginning and then used to announce time. Bells and drums were originally ancient musical instruments and were later used for time-telling. Chinese ancient bell and drum towers originated from the “a morning bell and a dusk drum” system in the Han Dynasty, which means the morning bell awakes people to get up and the dusk drum reminds people to sleep. Chang’an, the capital city of the Tang Dynasty, was very prosperous, and its structure was so called“Li Fang System”.“Li Fang” was the name of blocks which were surrounded by city walls. There were doors on two or four sides of “Li Fang” and they were opened regularly. On the front gate of the palace, Chengtian Gate, bells and drums were set there as the time-telling center of the whole city. In the morning and evening, doors of “Li Fang”and palace gates were opened according to the bells and drums. In the Yuan Dynasty, bell towers and drum towers were also built in north of the palace.
Beijing Drum Tower is a wooden structure with double eaves and is 46.7 meters in height. The building is placed on a 4-meter-high stone-and-brick base.It is about 56 meters long from east to west and 33 meters wide from north to south. The Bell and Drum Towers, as the time reporting center of the capital city in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, are one of the landmarks of the ancient capital Beijing, witnessing the history of China in the past hundred years.
The Drum Tower is the time-telling center of ancient cities. In the Qing Dynasty, every night was divided into five sections from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.. At 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. everyday, drums were beaten first and then bells were rung. From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., only bells were rung.Bells and drums were stricken with rhythm and pace of 18 quick ones and 18 slow ones, totally 108 strikes. The Beijing Drum Tower is a two-storey building with a structural dark floor in the middle. Its interior is of arch structure, with three arch doors in front and back respectively and one arch door in left and right respectively. A pair of stone lions is in front of the south gate. There is a door in the northeast corner of the building with 69 stone stairs, from which visitors can enter the tower.
The Bell Tower is around 100 meters north of the Drum Tower. It was originally the central pavilion of Wanning Temple in the Yuan Dynasty. It was built in 1272 and was later destroyed by war. In the 18th year of Emperor Yongle (1420), it was rebuilt together with the Drum Tower but was destroyed again soon after. In the 10th year of Emperor Qianlongin the Qing Dynasty (1745), it was rebuilt by decree and completed two years later. This time, in order to prevent fire, all the buildings were made of bricks and stones. It was once used as an office by Beijing Air Defense Command till 1980s. The Bell Tower covers an area of about 6,000 square meters with double eaves and is 47.95 meters in height. There are arch doors on all sides of the bottom base, and there are 75 stone steps in the main building leading to the second floor.
Bus route: Take Subway Line 8 to Shichahai Station (Exit A2), then walk to the Bell and Drum Tower.
Address: No.9 Linzi, Zhonglou Wan, Dongcheng District, Beijing
