Shanxi is known for its ancient architecture, and Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is a must-see

If you visit Shanxi to see ancient buildings but miss the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, it's like going to a museum without seeing its most treasured exhibit. 🌟【Yingxian Wooden Pagoda】 This wooden pagoda, which was built during the Liao Dynasty, is the tallest and oldest existing wooden structure in the world. It is not only a symbol of Shanxi but also the foremost representation of ancient Chinese architecture and mortise and tenon craftsmanship. Despite the ravages of a thousand years, you can see from afar that there is already noticeable deformation around the third to fourth floors. One can't help but worry about how many more years it can stand. Honestly, the experience of visiting the wooden pagoda now is not very strong. Firstly, you can no longer climb the pagoda. In the past, you could go up to the third floor and take pictures of the exquisite interior sculptures. Now, to protect the pagoda, you can only pass through the first floor and admire the main Buddha statue there. Secondly, there are just too many people. No matter which angle you choose, there are always people in the shot, so I had to take a photo on the abandoned grassland outside the courtyard to get a picture without others in it. Many friends say it's not worth visiting, but this is actually determined by the nature of tourism in Shanxi. To appreciate these architectural relics, visitors need to do their homework, understand the background, and know what to look for and what makes it special. Ancient buildings and temples cannot be turned into highly interactive projects, so naturally, they lack entertainment value. 🌟【Best Spot to Photograph the Wooden Pagoda】 If you visit the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, I recommend exiting through the east gate. There is a perfect spot here to take pictures of people with the pagoda. Walk south after exiting the east gate, and you'll find a demolished area with long grass. You can use the grass as the foreground to cover the ground and the pagoda's wall. 🌟【Jingtu Temple】 I highly recommend visiting Jingtu Temple in the northeast corner. Liang Sicheng once mentioned the "Three Treasures of Yingxian"—the "national treasure" Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, the "unparalleled" caisson ceiling of Jingtu Temple, and the scattered stone lions. The latter two are found here. Jingtu Temple has a prestigious history. It was originally built during the Later Tang of the Five Dynasties as the family temple of Emperor Li Siyuan of the Later Tang, so it carries royal blood and grandeur. However, the original temple was destroyed and later rebuilt on the same site in the 24th year of the Jin Dading era (1184). According to the temple's introduction, it was originally a five-courtyard complex, but during the Ming Dynasty, the city was reduced, leaving only three courtyards inside the city, while the outer ones were abandoned. The three inner courtyards were also later damaged by humans, leaving only the current main hall from the Jin Dynasty. Its most treasured feature is the caisson ceiling inside the main hall. Looking up inside the hall, you can see nine large caisson ceilings, each surrounded by imagined heavenly palaces. Each small heavenly palace, from the flying eaves and dougong brackets to the railings and beast figures, is extremely detailed. Inside the caisson ceilings, there are also double golden dragons flying, showcasing the unparalleled spatial imagination of the craftsmen. When I was a child, I watched the animated film "Havoc in Heaven," and the depiction of the heavenly palace in the film was likely inspired by this. The scattered stone lions mentioned by Liang Sicheng are now severely damaged and unrecognizable, standing in the courtyard, leaving us to imagine their original appearance through photos. The rear wall of Jingtu Temple is closely attached to a section of the remaining earthen wall, which should be the Ming Dynasty city wall ruins, confirming the story of the temple's destruction due to the city's reduction during the Ming Dynasty.