Tianjin Drum Tower

The Tianjin Drum Tower (天津鼓楼) is an imitation of an antique building in Nankai District and a national 2A-rated scenic area. The old tower was built in 1493, in the Hongzhi era of the Ming, by the Tianjin defence vice-commissioner Liu Fu at the very centre of the old walled city, as a three-storeyed brick city tower with a timber superstructure. It was rebuilt by the Republican-era government in 1921 and demolished on 7 November 1952. Construction of the present tower began on 25 November 2000 and finished on 28 September 2001: it is 27 metres high on a 27-square-metre footprint with a steel-concrete core, and the four white marble gate stones carry the old names Zhen Dong, An Xi, Ding Nan and Gong Bei.