The pagoda, situated at Beitaba, more than twenty kilometers north of the county town of Pengxian in Chengdu, is commonly known as Bei (North) Pagoda. Inscriptions on the four sides of the first storey state that construction started in 1023 and was completed in 1026 in the Northern Song Dynasty. The pagoda remains firm today.
The square, thirteen-storey, multi-eave pagoda is some twenty-eight meters high and stands on a brick Sumeru pedestal. Each side of the first storey is eight meters wide. The first storey is bigger than the other twelve. The thirteen pent roofs are quite close together, the ones on several upper storeys tapers sharply so that they form a smooth curve, presenting an exquisite outline and giving the pagoda a look similar to that of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. A winding staircase along the interior wall leads to the fourth storey. The pagoda has a vault ceiling and brick brackets on the top storey.
The pagoda's appearance is that of multi-eave brick pagodas in the Central Plains (the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River) in the Tang Dynasty, but its interior structure shows a transition to the architectural style of the Song Dynasty.