The Yueyang Tower Scenic Area is located at No. 60 Dongting North Road, Yueyang Tower District, Yueyang City, Hunan Province. It is an important part of the Yueyang Tower–Dongting Lake National Key Scenic and Historic Area. In September 2011, the Yueyang Tower–Junshan Island Scenic Area was officially approved as a National 5A Tourist Attraction by the National Tourist Attraction Quality Grade Evaluation Committee. The scenic area covers 670 mu and is divided into a closed management area for cultural relic protection and a public open leisure area. The core building in the scenic area, Yueyang Tower, stands on the ancient west gate city wall of Yueyang City, facing Dongting Lake and commanding the Yangtze River, magnificent and imposing. Yueyang Tower is a pure wooden structure with three stories, four columns, upturned eaves, and a helmet-style roof. It is 19.42 meters high, 14.54 meters deep, and 17.42 meters wide. It is supported by four nanmu golden columns with a diameter of 46 centimeters, 12 wooden corridor columns, and 24 wooden eave columns. Beams are placed on the columns, and columns are erected on the beams, all constructed using mortise-and-tenon joints.
Historical Culture
The predecessor of Yueyang Tower is said to be the "Military Review Tower" of Lu Su, a great general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, with a history of nearly 1,800 years. During the Western Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was called "Baling City Tower." After Li Bai wrote a poem in the mid-Tang Dynasty, it began to be called "Yueyang Tower." At that time, Baling City had already been renamed Yueyang City, and Baling City Tower was accordingly called Yueyang Tower.
Before the Tang Dynasty, Yueyang Tower was mainly used for military purposes. From the Tang Dynasty onward, it gradually became a famous place for tourists and literary figures of successive dynasties to sightsee and compose poems. Meng Haoran's "The vapors steam over Cloud Dream Marsh, the waves shake Yueyang City," Li Bai's "From the tower one sees all Yueyang, the river stretches far and Dongting opens," and Du Fu's "Wu and Chu split southeast, heaven and earth float day and night" are all peerless masterpieces through the ages. However, Yueyang Tower truly became world-famous after Teng Zijing rebuilt it in the Northern Song Dynasty and Fan Zhongyan wrote "Record of Yueyang Tower." In the fourth year of the Qingli era (1044), Teng Zijing was demoted to prefect of Yuezhou. In the fifth year of the Qingli era, he began rebuilding Yueyang Tower, and it was completed one year later. He asked Fan Zhongyan to write a record for the tower, and Fan Zhongyan wrote the famous "Record of Yueyang Tower," which has been passed down through the ages. The full text is more than 360 characters, among which the line "Be the first to bear the world's worries, and the last to enjoy the world's joys" is widely recited. From then on, the tower became famous because of the writing, and the writing was transmitted because of the tower; the writing and the tower became equally renowned throughout the world.
Through the vicissitudes of time, Yueyang Tower suffered repeated floods and wars and was repeatedly destroyed and repaired, with more than 30 recorded instances in history. The most recent major renovation was a full dismantling and overhaul in 1984, following the form of the structure built in the sixth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1880) and adhering to the principle of "repairing the old as old."
Main Attractions
Yueyang Tower
Yueyang Tower is the core attraction of the scenic area. Its structure is simple and dignified, and its momentum is grand and solemn. Among the three stories, the furnishings, decorations, and patterns are all different in style. The carved screen of "Record of Yueyang Tower" hanging on the second floor is extremely precious, from Fan Zhongyan's text to the calligraphy of the Qing Dynasty calligrapher Zhang Zhao. Climbing Yueyang Tower, one can overlook the lake and mountain scenery of the 800-li Dongting Lake.
San Zui Pavilion
On the right side of Yueyang Tower, it echoes the Langyin Pavilion on Junshan from afar. Its name is taken from the story of Lü Dongbin getting drunk three times at Yueyang Tower. From October 1975 to September 1977, it was dismantled and rebuilt. It covers 135.7 square meters, has a square plan, is 9 meters high, and has a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, with a typical Song Dynasty architectural style. A tower screen was added on the first floor, with a traditional Chinese painting of Lü Dongbin lying drunk.
Xianmei Pavilion
The present pavilion was dismantled and rebuilt according to its original appearance in 1979. It covers 44 square meters, has a total height of 7 meters, is hexagonal, and is entirely made of wood. It has two layers of eaves, with upturned eave corners, covered with green glazed tiles. It is exquisite and unique, and adds radiance to the ancient tower.
Huaifu Pavilion
It covers 40 square meters and is 6.5 meters high. It is a four-column square reinforced concrete structure, with a beautifully decorated caisson ceiling painted in color. In 1962, to commemorate the 1,250th anniversary of Du Fu's birth, Yueyang built this pavilion here.
Stele Corridor
The Stele Corridor starts from the central axis of Yueyang Tower and extends eastward to the wall, then extends northward along the wall, forming an "L" shape, with a total length of 97.2 meters. It is a corridor-style structure. It displays a total of 158 steles, including 134 selected steles of poetry and calligraphy about Yueyang Tower from successive dynasties and 24 steles recording the repairs of Yueyang Tower since the Ming and Qing dynasties. The content is displayed in four parts, covering ancient famous masters' handwritten "Record of Yueyang Tower" by Fan Zhongyan, contemporary inscriptions, miscellaneous steles, and more. The inscriptions feature a variety of literary styles and diverse calligraphic styles, gathering the calligraphic arts of regular script, cursive script, running script, seal script, and clerical script in one corridor.
Tomb of Xiao Qiao
The garden is planted with green cypresses and bamboo, glossy privet, and camphor trees. At the entrance there is a screen wall. On the front is Su Dongpo's handwriting: "Thinking back to Gongjin in those years, Xiao Qiao had just married, heroic and brilliant." On the back is carved "Record of Repairing the Tomb of Xiao Qiao." In front of the tomb is the "Huanxuan" hall, in which stands a statue of Xiao Qiao and where historical materials and paintings and calligraphy related to Xiao Qiao are displayed.
Suggested Tour Route：
Visitors are advised to enter through the scenic area gate and first go to Yueyang Tower, climb the tower to enjoy the scenery of Dongting Lake, and experience its historical charm; then visit the carved screen of "Record of Yueyang Tower" on the second floor. After that, go to San Zui Pavilion to learn about the legend behind it. Then go to Xianmei Pavilion to appreciate the architectural features of the pavilion. After that, go to Huaifu Pavilion to commemorate Du Fu. Stroll along the Stele Corridor to appreciate inscriptions from successive dynasties. Finally, visit the Tomb of Xiao Qiao and experience its historical and cultural atmosphere. The entire tour is suggested to take 3–4 hours, and visitors may adjust it appropriately according to their interests and time.
Tour Suggestions：
Learn about the history and culture of Yueyang Tower and related poems in advance, so that you can better appreciate its charm during the visit.
Choose a day with clear weather to go, so as to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Dongting Lake.
You may bring your own drinking water. It is also sold in the scenic area, but the price may be slightly higher.
If you are interested in calligraphy, you can spend more time in the Stele Corridor appreciating the inscriptions.
Notes：
Some buildings in the scenic area are cultural relics and historic sites. Please do not touch or carve on them, and abide by the scenic area's protection regulations.
When visiting high places such as Yueyang Tower, pay attention to safety and do not lean on the railings.
During peak tourist seasons, there are many visitors, so please take good care of your personal belongings.
Respect the staff and other visitors in the scenic area and practice civilized tourism.
Transportation：
External transportation：
By plane: Yueyang Sanhe Airport is some distance from the city. You can take an airport shuttle bus to the city at the airport, then transfer to a bus or take a taxi to the scenic area.
By train: Both Yueyang Station and Yueyang East Station have trains stopping there. From Yueyang Station, you can take multiple bus routes directly to near the scenic area; from Yueyang East Station, you can take a bus with a transfer or take a taxi to the scenic area.
Internal transportation: The scenic area is not large, and touring is mainly on foot.
Opening Hours：
May 1–September 30: opening hours are 07:00–18:30; October 1–April 30 of the following year: opening hours are 07:30–18:00.
Tickets：
The ticket price is 70 yuan per person.