The Drum (Gǔlóu) and Bell (Zhōnglóu) towers were originally built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan (). Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) rebuilt the towers in 1420 and they were again renovated during the reign of Qing Emperor Jiaqing (r. 1796 - 1820). Both the Drum and Bell towers were used as timekeepers during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

---

Size: 3434px × 5085px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: architecture, asia, asian, beijing, bell, china, chinese, clothing, costume, david, drum, drummer, dynasty, gu, gulou, henley, historical, history, image, images, jiaqing, kubilai, kublai, lou, ming, peking, pictures, qing, tower, yongle, yuan, zhong, zhonglou