The Xumi Pagoda is the oldest and tallest of Zhengding's four famous pagodas, rising 48 metres in nine tiers from a square stone platform. Built in 636 during the Tang dynasty, it belongs to the Kaiyuan Monastery and is a textbook example of early Tang pagoda design: square in plan, tapering upward through even brick tiers, with a restrained elegance that contrasts markedly with the more elaborately decorated Song-period structures nearby.
The stone platform base carries carved reliefs, and the corners of each tier are decorated with carved heads that have eroded but remain legible. You cannot climb inside, but the exterior is in good condition given the age, and the overall impression is of serious architectural confidence. Standing next to the other pagodas, the Tang sobriety of the Xumi makes an instructive comparison with the Northern Song ornamentation of the Lingxiao Pagoda a few minutes' walk away.