Old Watchtowers in Danba, historic towers in Danba, Garzê, Sichuan, China

The Old Watchtowers in Danba (Danba Gu Diao Qun) are a group of 119 stone towers recorded in the Third National Cultural Relics Census, scattered across villages of Danba County in Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan. Built between the Yuan and Qing dynasties, they are included in the sixth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level. The towers are not a single structure but a collection of sites, some well preserved and others surviving as ruins.

The 119 watchtower sites of Danba County were dated to the Yuan through Qing dynasties. They were listed as a Sichuan provincial cultural relic on 27 December 2002 and as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level on 25 May 2006.

The 119 watchtower sites recorded in the third national cultural relics survey are spread across villages such as Jiaju, Suopo and Niexia in Danba County, Garzê Prefecture. Local Tibetan communities built them from stacked stone, and many stand beside or among village houses. The towers are known in Chinese as diao and give the county its reputation as the land of a thousand watchtowers.

The 119 watchtower sites are scattered across villages of Danba County, so plan travel between clusters rather than expecting one location. Many are ruins or single towers in farmland and village lanes; access paths are informal and some sites stand on slopes. The county seat and nearby villages such as Jiaju serve as bases for visiting several sites in a day.

The Danba watchtower group is not one tower but 119 separately recorded sites, listed in the Third National Cultural Relics Survey, scattered across villages such as Jiaju, Suopo and Niexia. They were inscribed as a Sichuan provincial protected site on 27 December 2002 and as a national key cultural relic on 25 May 2006.