Click here to enter photo gallery >>

- Location: Liubu Village of Licheng County, Jinan City, Shandong Province

The pagoda is located at the foot of Qinglong Mountain east of the ruins of Shentong Temple in Liubu Village of Licheng County, Jinan City, Shandong Province. It is called the Four-Door Pagoda (四门塔) because each of its four sides has a door. Built in 611 during the Sui Dynasty, it is the oldest extant pavilion- style pagoda in China.

The pagoda is built of a kind of hard stone produced in the area. After more than a thousand years the pagoda shows no sign of decay. It is square, with each side measuring 7.4 meters long. The entire pagoda is 10.4 meters high. Over the main body are five tiers of stone eaves, progressively wider as they move upward. The roof is made of twenty-three tiers of slabstones, one overlapping the other, making it pyramid-shaped. Inside the pagoda is a huge square central pillar, surrounded by a winding corridor. On the ceiling a triangular beam links the pillar and the outer walls to provide support for the roof. The appearance of Buddha is vivid and the lines of his clothes look smooth.

Travel tips:

- Hours: 7a.m. – 6 p.m.

- Admission: 40 yuan

- How to get there: take bus No.67 and get off at the Simen Pagoda.