The glazed bricks
The colour of iron.
Windmemories — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Windmemories — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Łukasz A. Grabowski — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Greg kf — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gary Todd — CC0 · Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D., Professor of History, Sias International University, Xinzheng, Henan, China. — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Windmemories — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gary Todd — CC0
A tower of glazed brick built in 1049 under the Northern Song dynasty, when Kaifeng was China's capital, in place of a wooden pagoda burnt by lightning in 1044; it is called «iron» not because it is made of iron but because its glazed bricks are the colour of iron, and it counts among the masterpieces of Song architecture. The pagoda rises 56.88 metres in thirteen storeys from an octagonal base, with a spiral stair inside, and its walls are clad in more than fifty kinds of glazed brick and some 1,600 carvings of flowers, lions, dragons, legendary beasts and more, while 104 bells hang under its eaves and ring in the wind; it stands in a broad park with a lake and pavilions. Tickets cost from CNY 36, and the park is open from 8.30 am to 9 pm with last entry at 7.30 pm, with a light show on the pagoda at 8 pm, per visitor guides.
The colour of iron.
104 under the eaves.
In the evening.
Iron Pagoda Park, north-east of the old city, Kaifeng
No, it is built of glazed brick, and it is called iron because its brown bricks look the colour of iron.
Fairly, as the city has a long-established Hui Muslim community, there is a street of halal eateries in front of the East Mosque, and the night markets have stalls under the halal sign, though others may serve pork.
