Porcelain+Tower+of+Nanjing

= Porcelain Tower of Nanjing Nanjing, China = The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing also know as Bao'ensi by the people in China, means "the temple of gratitude." It is a historical site located on the south bank of Yangtze in Nanjing, China. The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing served as a Buddhist Pagoda. It was constructed in the 15th century during the Ming dynasty under the reign of the Yongle Emperor.

The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing was one of the largest buildings in China during that time, rising up to 260 feet with nine stories and in the middle of the tower was a spiraling staircase with 184 steps.The tower was octagonal with a base of 97 feet.It was built with white porcelain blocks and was said to reflect the sun's rays during the day and at night 140 lamps hung from the building to illuminate the tower.

In 1801 the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing was struck by lightening and the top three stories were knocked off, but it was soon restored. Unfortunately in the 1850's the area around the tower erupted in civil war and the tower was destroyed by Taiping Rebels in order to prevent it from being used as a watch tower. Sadly, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing no longer exist today.   http://www.theworldwonders.com/medieval-porcelain-tower-of-nanjing.html http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~allin20b/nanjing.html http://www.chinatourme.com/Nanjing/764.html