How Is This 1000-Year-Old Wooden Tower Still Standing? | Yingxian

How can a wooden tower built nearly 1,000 years ago still be standing today? In this episode of Feng's China, I travel to Yingxian in northern China to visit one of the most extraordinary structures ever built: the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. Constructed in 1056 during the Liao Dynasty, this 67-meter-tall pagoda remains the tallest surviving ancient wooden structure in the world. Built entirely from timber and joined without a single nail, it has endured earthquakes, war, and centuries of harsh weather. Together, we'll explore its remarkable engineering, the hidden structural system that keeps it standing, the famous visit of architect Liang Sicheng, and even an unexpected connection between Buddhist guardians and the Greek hero Heracles. But today, this thousand-year-old masterpiece faces perhaps its greatest challenge yet: how to survive the modern age. 📍 Yingxian County, Shanxi Province, China 0:00 Introduction & A Thousand-Year Mystery 2:16 A Winter Visit 3:51 Liang Sicheng and the Tower 4:30 An Impossible Structure 6:23 Inside the Wooden Skyscraper 7:50 The Giant Buddha 9:36 From Heracles to Buddhism 11:58 The Secret of Its Survival 13:00 Can It Outlive Us? 🎬 Watch More From Shanxi Datong: China's Forgotten Capital    • Where Empires Left Their Mark | Datong   Datong: An 800-Year-Old Buddhist Temple    • Inside an 800-Year-Old Buddhist Temple | D...   Explore China with Feng's China:    / @fengschina   #China #Architecture #History #Travel #Engineering #Pagoda #AncientChina #Documentary