The Drum Tower, X’ian China

acient drum -4

The Drum Tower and the Bell Tower, located in Xi’an, China, were built in 1380. Both the drum and bell were used to report the time of the day, as a rule: “at dawn, ring the bell first, then beat the drum; at night, drum first, then ring the bell.” They also used the drum as an alarm in emergency situations.

The Drum and Bell towers were restored in the mid of 90s, 12 drums were installed on the north side of the Tower and another 12 on the south side:

drum 3-3

Here is the Bell Tower, the bell is placed at the left corner of the Tower:

bell-3

Today, they play the drums and the bell only on special festival days:

the bell-2

Notes: Xi’an

The city is famous for the Terracotta Army –one of the Eight Wonders of the world.
It is recognized by UNESCO as one of the historic cities.
Xi’an is the cradle of Chinese civilization. It has over 6,000 years of history of the founding of the city.
It has the longest history 1,200 years as a capital of 13 dynasties including the Qin Dynasty–the first emperor of Qin ordered to link all the walls in different regions into the Great Wall.
Between 206 BC and 9 AD, Xi’an was the world economic and cultural exchange center when the “Silk Road” was developed.
It is located in the northwest part of China, approx. 679 miles west of Beijing.

xian tower - night