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A drum tower () or gulou is a tower in the center of an old Asian city or village, mainly China, housing signal drums. There was usually also a
A drum tower () or gulou is a tower in the center of an old Asian city or village, mainly China, housing signal drums. There was usually also a bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
nearby.
They were once found all over China in villages, marking the symbolic center of the settlement and used to mark nightfall and to summon the people for civic ceremonies and significant occasions, such as Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, ยง Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...
.
The drum tower often being located in the symbolic center of a city, downtown districts of several Chinese cities have been named after the tower.
See also
* Drum tower (Chinese Buddhism), a different type of drum towerIndividual drum towers
* Gulou and Zhonglou (Beijing) (Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing
The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou (), is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist att ...
)
* Drum Tower of Xi'an
The Drum Tower of Xi'an (), located in the heart of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, Northwestern China, along with the Bell Tower is a symbol of the city. Erected in 1380 during the early Ming Dynasty (Hongwu
The Hongwu Emperor (21 O ...
* Drum Tower of Nanjing
* Bianjing Drum Tower
References
Architecture in China * Towers Traditional East Asian architecture {{PRChina-struct-stub