A view of the Xizi Tower in Chating Town, Wangcheng District, Changsha City. (Photo/official WeChat account of Changsha Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television)

Recently, the People's Daily released a video on its overseas social media platform, promoting a unique scene: a hundred-year-old tree growing on top of the 12-meter-high Xizi Tower in Chating Town, Wangcheng District, Changsha City, to netizens across the world. The harmonious coexistence of a tree and a tower in the video instantly drew global attention, receiving nearly 10,000 likes and nearly 200 reposts from overseas users on the platform in a short period of time.

Xizi Tower was once a place to burn paper that had writing on it, embodying the traditional concept of "respecting paper with written words." The tower is now a popular tourist attraction in Changsha. First built in 1838, the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, the tower has gone through the vicissitudes of wind and rain. In 1900, the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu, the top of the tower was unfortunately damaged by lightning, and then a hackberry tree began to grow atop the tower. Now, more than 120 years later, this sapling has thrived with a canopy of leaves, forming an unusual coexistence between the tree and the tower. There are only eight such wonders of symbiosis in the world, which is why Xizi Tower has been successively registered as a cultural relic site under municipal-level and provincial-level protection.

Netizens from all over the world were stunned by the tower, posting comments such as "Very very beautiful, it's all Almighty God's grace!" "This is the work of nature!", and "Impressive!". Through the video, netizens not only appreciate the unique charm of traditional Eastern architecture, but also deeply feel the uncanny workmanship of nature and the tenacity of life.

Comments from netizens around the world.


Comments from netizens around the world.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Transaltor: Kuang Zhenzhen

Chinese source: Changsha Online