Stork Tower (Guanque Tower)

Stork Tower, known in Chinese as Guanque Tower, stands in Puzhou Town, Yongji, Yuncheng, Shanxi, China, near the eastern bank of the Yellow River. The original tower was built in the Northern Zhou dynasty and became famous through the Tang poet Wang Zhihuan's short poem Climbing Stork Tower, which includes the line about going up another storey to see a thousand miles further. The tower was destroyed in the 13th century, and the present structure is a 1990s reconstruction in the Tang style, standing about 73 metres high with nine storeys on the outside and a double-eave design. Inside, visitors find exhibitions on the poem, Tang culture and the history of the tower, with calligraphy and painted scenes on several floors. A visit generally takes one to one and a half hours, including the walk through the gardens, the climb and time at the top floor. The most popular vantage is the top floor, which looks west across the Yellow River flood plain toward Shaanxi, the scene at the heart of the poem. Photographers also stand in the grounds to capture the full tower with its reflection and the surrounding gardens. Late afternoon offers the best light and the sunset view. Crowds gather during national holidays and summer weekends, while weekdays are calm. The tower is about 15 km west of Yongji city, reached by Didi from Yongji or Yuncheng North station, and is often combined with Pujiu Temple nearby.