Yueyang Tower, Tower in Yueyang, China

Yueyang Tower is a three-story wooden structure with yellow glazed tiles and several overhanging roofs above Dongting Lake. The roof peak resembles a helmet in shape and forms the highest point of the construction.

Lu Su, a general of Eastern Wu, built the Yuejun Tower around 215 AD on the city wall by Dongting Lake to review his navy; it was renamed Baling City Tower in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties and took the name Yueyang Tower in the Tang. Destroyed by fire in 1688, it was rebuilt in 1740 as a three-tiered timber tower, and the 1880 reconstruction moved the structure back over six zhang to steady its base. The 1980s restoration kept more than 55% of the original components.

The tower's name became widely known through a Song-era literary work that is still read in Chinese schools today. Visitors see calligraphies and poems inside that speak about the lake and responsibility toward society.

Access is through several staircases leading up to the top level, where the view opens over the lake. Inside are exhibitions on Chinese poetry and wooden models of other historical towers.

On several floors hang handwritten characters by well-known scholars, including a poem in the handwriting of Mao Zedong. This collection of calligraphies makes the tower a place where architecture and literary history connect.