The wood tower of Yingxian county, Shanxi province, was built about 950 years ago, during the Liao Dynasty (1056) and is Chinese oldest, tallest wooden architectural structure. It stands 67.3 meters high and has a base that is 30.3 meters in diameter, with nine stories, five of them in use.

The external pillars of each story have beam frames on the external pillars of the layer below, about half a pillar inward, giving the tower a graceful contour. It is well proportioned and presents a splendid sight.

Historical records show a large earthquake occurring for seven days during the Shundi period of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and the wood tower standing firm. About 350 years ago, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the city of Lingqiu, Shanxi province, was hit by magnitude-9 earthquake, which destroyed a countless number of houses and left thousands of people dead, but the wooden still stood tower. In modern times, there have been a number of quakes in Datong, Shanxi, which affected Yingxian to some degree, but the tower remained safe and sound. In 1926, when warlords were fighting with each other over Shanxi, the tower was hit by 200 artillery shells, leaving a large number of holes. It was even set on fire for a number of times, but the fires, surprisingly, died out of themselves. So, the wood tower has stood erect in northern Shanxi for 900 years, without any scientific explanation for its quake- and fire-proof nature.

Many other wooden towers in China have been destroyed by fire during thunderstorms and areas around the wooden structure have been struck by lightning, but Yingxian is also lightning-proof. In the 1950s, two objects 100 meters from the tower were hit by lightning, but the tower stood firm.