Iron Pagoda, Kaifeng, Henan 河南开封铁塔
The Iron Pagoda, properly the Youguo Temple Pagoda, once belonged to the Kaibao Temple. Built in the Northern Song, it is octagonal, thirteen storeys and over 50 metres high, and faced entirely in brown glazed brick that looks like cast iron from a distance, hence the popular name. The glazed bricks are moulded with dozens of designs – Buddhas, flying apsaras, flowers – and the bracket sets, doors and windows imitate timber construction in fine detail. It is the earliest and tallest surviving glazed-brick pagoda in China.
