The Bell Tower Museum in Xi'an City announced on June 8 that the bell tower will be closed for repairs from June 10 to August 25. Many foreign tourists who did not know the news rushed out, but unfortunately they did not have a glimpse of this bell tower, which has witnessed a century of history. So what has the Bell Tower experienced in these two months?

This repair work is mainly to maintain the bell tower, replace damaged glazed tiles, fill in faded murals, repair broken flying rafters, and the most important treasure roof with gold. This is the first time since 1996 that the bell tower has been re-gold, attracting a lot of social attention. A total of 3800 pieces of gold foil were used for this Baoding gold installation, totaling 70 grams.

Xi'an Bell Tower is located in the center of Xi'an City and is a landmark building. Founded in the Ming Dynasty, it is a key protected cultural relic more than 600 years old. It is also the largest existing bell tower in all parts of our country.

Due to long-term damage from various factors such as nature and man-made, the bell tower has experienced problems such as water leakage, mildew, and decay over the long years. In order to better protect the bell tower and allow it to "prolong life", there have been five large-scale renovation activities in history. In modern times, activities such as reinforcement and maintenance, color painting cleaning, and wall alkali removal have been carried out.

Last year, in order to ensure the safety of cultural relics, Xi'an closed the lighting facilities of the tower body and changed to a night flood lighting mode to make the tower brighter than the surrounding environment. Because its building materials are mainly combustible materials such as wood, and there are electrical circuits that have no outer protection and are directly laid on wooden materials, which can easily cause fires. Although tourists coming to Xi'an can no longer see the brightly lit bell tower, people still hold a supportive attitude in order to avoid the huge regret of losing historical relics such as the fire at Notre Dame de Paris.

There are three stone monuments on the first floor of the bell tower, which record the history of the bell tower's eastward relocation and repair. There are also many precious historical documents and materials, allowing tourists to have a more detailed understanding of the bell tower. On the next floor is an exhibition hall for ancient Chinese lock culture and Qing Dynasty furniture. When tourists walk on the outer porch, they can see four streets in the east, north and west, with the bell tower as the center.

There is also a replica of the Jingyun Bell on the bell tower. The real Jingyun Bell has been properly stored in the Forest of Steles Museum. Some people may not know this name, but most people must have heard the jingyun bell. It is the bell that counts down to the Spring Festival Gala every year. In ancient times, the bell tower played the role of telling time. The "morning bell" and "dusk drum" managed the work and rest of the entire city.

With the Bell Tower as the center, it radiates on all sides tourist and leisure attractions such as Hui Street, Drum Tower, City Wall, Kaiyuan Shopping Mall, Luoma City, Stele Forest Museum, etc., bringing together shopping, food, scenery, and humanities. It is also a fashion gathering place for young people. There is a circular channel for pedestrians under the Bell Tower, making transportation convenient. Climb the bell tower at night and you can see the dazzling night view of the city.

After August 25, the renovated clock tower will be open to the public with a new look. Are you looking forward to it?