If you think about the Qianxun Pagoda at the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, it would incredible to realize how old this pagoda is. It was built in the 9th century so it is more than a thousand years old. The sixteen story pagoda is made of mud and has seen a lot of thing happen to Dali including earthquakes and war. It was understandably given a makeover for tourism purposes. The pagoda didn’t seem to have a way in and as I found out it is actually hollow inside at least from the ground floor to halfway up.
Amazingly, there were records of previous repair work being done to the pagoda and they are done in the year 1000, 1142 and 1145. I do not know if they continued to record any subsequent repair work but even more recently Buddhist artifacts have been discovered within the pagoda. It is really a treasure to behold within and without. Add to that its amazing resiliency to disasters and you have pagoda that is built to last a long, long time.
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