Chigang Tower

Chigang Pagoda is located in Xinshitou, southeast of Guangzhou Bridge. It is one of the existing ancient pagodas in Guangzhou. Because the location of the tower is called Chigang, hence the name. The Chigang Pagoda was built in the forty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1619 A.D.), and it was suspended due to lack of funds. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1621-1627 AD) by the Shangshu Li Weiwen. In the 24th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1844 AD), it was rebuilt with donations from industrialists Wu Chongyao and Pan Shicheng. Chigang Pagoda is the third "feng shui pagoda" built in Guangzhou after Pazhou Pagoda and Lotus Pagoda. Chigang Pagoda is about 900 points south of Xiaomanyao. It faces Yizhou Road in the north and a new green square in the east. There is a fence on the west side of the tower and an open courtyard gate. You can freely enter the Chigang Pagoda in the courtyard to visit. People sold tickets but couldn't go up to the tower because the gate was fenced and locked. Since the Chigang Pagoda was built in the Ming Dynasty, although there have been several repairs in the nearly 400 years, but due to the age, the mud bricks are aged and damaged very seriously. The corner columns and eaves of each layer of the tower body are missing, the tower wall is cracked, and the foundation sinks. Before the maintenance was carried out in 1996, experts determined that the tower body had been tilted by 1.05 meters, and there was a danger of collapse at any time. According to the cultural relic work policy of "protection first, rescue first", the Guangzhou Municipal Government completed the rescue and maintenance plan for the tower in 1996, but due to insufficient funds and other reasons, it has not been able to implement the maintenance well. Chigang Pagoda has also become a historical building that few people care about. It was not until 1999 that the Guangzhou Municipal Government allocated funds to repair the tower. The Chigang Pagoda is similar in shape to the Buddhist stupa, and it is an octagonal pavilion-style blue-brick pagoda. The tower is more than 50 meters high, with 9 floors outside and 17 floors inside. The diameter of the bottom of the tower is 12.5 meters and the height is about 50 meters. There are 3 doors on the first floor, each door is built with stone steps. Entering the heart chamber of the first floor tower, there is a piece of granite slab in memory of "God worshipping the platform in front of the gods". The north gate tower wall was demolished with a large piece of blue brick, which was later repaired with red brick. The Panyu County Government prohibits theft of tower bricks. The west gate has steps on the upper 2 floors (dark floor) of the tower ventricle. The steps are in the form of a flat seat through the center wall, hovering to the  floor. Now the wooden floor has been encircled and cannot be climbed. There are shrines at each level of the tower. The base of the tower is made of red sandstone, the surface is gray porphyry, and the east side is paved with granite during later restoration. There are stone steps to the base at the door on 3 sides. Like the tower body, the tower base is also octagonal, each side is 5.5 meters long and 1 meter high, and there are stone carvings of "Totalishi in the image of foreigners" on each side. The surface of the pagoda is brushed with white ash, and there is a red pillar on each octagonal floor. Each floor above the second floor has a waist eaves, and a platform is protruded from the eaves with brick teeth. Visitors can walk out of the tower and look out from the platform. The  of the tower is an octagonal spire.