Pingyao Shilou, Historical watchtower in Pingyao, China.
Pingyao Shilou is a three-tiered wooden pavilion tower at the midpoint of South Street in the centre of Pingyao's old town. It stands 18.5 metres high under a hip roof of yellow and green glazed tiles, with a square ground floor of 133.4 square metres whose central north–south passage is flanked by brick platforms. Two blue plaques with gold characters hang on the north and south faces, reading "Ancient Well Site" and "Ancient Pottery Scenic Spot".
The tower's construction date is unknown. It was rebuilt in 1688, the 27th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, and repaired several times in the mid-to-late Qing period and again in the 1990s. It was listed as a Shanxi provincial cultural relic in 1996 and as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2013.
The tower's name comes from the market below: shilou means market tower, and it stands mid-way along South Street. A well south of the building gave it the second name Jinqinglou, Golden Well Tower, because the water was said to be gold-coloured. Two blue plaques with gold characters hang on the north and south faces: "Jinjing Guji" (Ancient Site of the Golden Well) to the south and "Gutao Shengjing" (Scenic Spot of Ancient Tao) to the north.
The tower stands mid-way along South Street in the centre of Pingyao's walled town, and the ground floor is a north-south passage, so pedestrians walk through it rather than around it. The brick platforms flank this passage on the east and west sides. The south face carries the plaque reading "金井古跡" (Ancient Jinqing Site), the north face "古陶胜境".
The tower is also called Jinjinglou, or Golden Well Tower, after the well just south of it whose water was said to be the colour of gold. Two blue plaques with gold characters hang on the building: "Jinjing Guji" (Golden Well Historic Site) faces south and "Gutao Shengjing" (Ancient Pottery Scenic Spot) faces north.
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