Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple was completed in 1056 under the Liao dynasty and stands 67.31 metres, making it the oldest fully wooden pagoda still standing anywhere and the tallest of its kind. It is built entirely of interlocking timber brackets without nails, with five visible storeys and four hidden structural levels, and it has survived at least seven substantial earthquakes over nine centuries, including one that reportedly shook it for days. Inside stand Liao-era statues and painted murals. The structure has leaned and deformed over the past century, and access above the ground floor has been closed since the 1970s while engineers debate how to stabilise it.

What you actually see

• The 1056 timber structure - the oldest and tallest wooden pagoda in the world.
• The bracket system - interlocking timber joinery holding it without nails.
• The Liao statues - the Buddha figure and murals on the ground floor.
• The lean - the visible deformation the structure has developed.

When to go

May to October; northern Shanxi is severely cold in winter. The pagoda is usually combined with the Hanging Temple and Yungang on a Datong itinerary. It is quiet compared with the major sites.

Honest expectations

Only the ground floor is open; the upper levels have been closed for decades on safety grounds and no restoration solution has been agreed. The town around it is ordinary. English interpretation is minimal.

Nearby

Datong lies north; the Hanging Temple is between them at Hunyuan.