Chigang Tower is located at Xinshitou, southeast of the Guangzhou Bridge. It is one of the existing ancient towers in Guangzhou. It is located in Chigang, hence the name.
Built in the 47th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1619), it is the third "Feng Shui Pagoda" built after Pazhou Pagoda and Lotus Pagoda. The Pazhou Tower is located 40 miles southeast of Guangzhou City, the Lotus Tower is located 80 miles southeast of the city, and the Chigang Tower is located under the southeast city, forming the "Three Pearl River Towers" that "lock two rivers" and "Shuhikou" to gather "the spirit of supporting the public." . Therefore, the tower is majestic and tall, echoing the Pazhou Tower to the east, becoming the Feng Shui twin towers at the outlet of the Pearl River through Guangzhou.
The land where Chigang Tower is located is mostly red sandstone, so it is called Chigang. Situated at an altitude of 20 to 30 meters, the area was originally located in the Pearl River, but was later filled into farmland and fish ponds, forming a village in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The pagoda is similar in shape to the Buddhist relic pagoda. It is an octagonal pavilion-style blue brick pagoda. The tower is more than 50 meters high, with 9 floors on the outside and 17 floors inside. The diameter of the base of the tower is 12.5 meters and the height is about 50 meters. There are three doors on the first floor, each doorway is lined with stone steps. Entering the ventricle of the tower on the first floor, there is a granite slab for "worshiping platform before God"/A large piece of blue brick was removed from the north gate wall of the tower. During the Republic of China, it was repaired with red bricks and a 0.36x0.27 meter granite tablet was embedded in the repaired place. It is engraved with a notice from the Panyu County Government prohibiting theft of pagoda bricks. There is a 2-story (dark floor) tower ventricle on the west gate. The steps are of the type that go through the core wall and wrap around a flat seat, spiraling to the top floor. The wooden floor is now ruined and cannot be climbed. There are shrines on each level of the tower. The base of the tower is made of red sandstone, and the surface is gray porphyry. The east side was paved with granite during later restoration. There are stone steps to the base from the door opening on 3 sides. Like the pagoda body, the pagoda base is also octagonal, with each side 5.5 meters long and 1 meter high. There are stone carvings of powerful men on each side of the pagoda, with vivid expressions. They are rare masterpieces of stone carvings from the Ming Dynasty. The surface of the tower is painted with white ash, and there is a red pillar on the octagonal side of each floor. The capital of the pillar has an forehead square and is stacked with dental bricks. Each floor above the second floor has eaves extending from the waist, and brick teeth are used to protrude a platform on the eaves. Visitors can walk out of the tower and look out from the platform. The upper end of the tower is an octagonal spire. There used to be a pagoda nearby, but it no longer exists.
There were two ancient pagodas in the Henan area of ??Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. They used to be very eye-catching because they towered into the sky, but now they are overshadowed by the nearby high-rise buildings. Therefore, many Guangzhou citizens tend to ignore their exist. Of these two ancient pagodas, one is the "Hai'ao Pagoda" located in Pazhou, and the other is the "Chigang Pagoda" located in Chigang. These two ancient pagodas are unique and were built during the Wanli period of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. The construction of "Hai'ao Pagoda" in Pazhou began in 1597, the 25th year of Wanli, while the construction of "Chigang Pagoda" was not started until 1619, the 47th year of Wanli. Therefore, Guangzhou was the first to have "Hai'ao". Tower", followed by "Chigang Tower".
Why is it called "Chigang Tower"? It turns out that the base of the tower was built on a small hill of red sandstone. There was a red area nearby, so the hill was called "Chigang" and the tower was called "Chigang Tower".