Guta Pagoda

Guta Pagoda — "Guta" means old pagoda in Chinese — is the tallest surviving ancient brick pagoda in Liaoning Province, rising fifty-seven metres above the old city neighbourhood. Built during the Liao Dynasty in the eleventh century, the thirteen-storey octagonal tower is the oldest structure in Jinzhou and the landmark by which residents orient themselves in the central districts.

The pagoda stands in Guta Park, which also includes a small temple complex with later Qing Dynasty buildings. The park is a genuine neighbourhood space rather than a tourist zone, with residents using it for morning exercise and the usual Chinese park activities alongside whatever visitors have come to see the pagoda. The structure can be viewed but not climbed; the best views of the tower itself are from the surrounding streets, where it emerges unexpectedly above the modern city.

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Guta Pagoda was built during the Liao Dynasty — probably in the eleventh century, contemporary with Fengguo Temple to the south. At fifty-seven metres it is the tallest ancient brick tower in Liaoning, and it has survived intact because the city around it was too poor for long periods to afford the demolitions that cleared so many similar structures elsewhere.

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