万古楼
Five-story all-wood pavilion on a hilltop, its sixteen unbroken trunk pillars rising a full thirty-three meters over the old town.
The guide to Wangu Tower on Lion Hill above Lijiang's old town starts with a claim guides repeat about its sixteen supporting trunks, each said to be a single unbroken column running the tower's full height, and then sets that claim against the trunks' actual measured length. You'll also hear why the tower's reconstruction in nineteen ninety-seven, soon after the old town's UNESCO listing, settled on a height meant to commemorate the old Naxi county's population. Climb the stone steps from Four Square Street through centuries-old cypress trees and see if the numbers add up for yourself.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.