Gǔlóu (Drum Tower) by Domingo Cui

Artist: Domingo Cui
Title: Gǔlóu (Drum Tower)
Description: Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. Later they were used to tell time and became watches for the officials and common people as well. The Bell and Drum towers were the center of time telling during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

Although the Bell and Drum Towers have lost their function of telling time (The function was completely lost in 1924 when the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was forced to leave the Forbidden City), one can still hear the rings of these ancient timepieces even now.

A few months ago, it was said that a tourist died after a fall from the tower. Due to this terrible incident, the Drum tower had to be shut down. It was then renovated, repainted and embellished. It has become more beautiful than it ever was. But its new facade can never cover the tragic event, hence the conversion into black and white.



Other photos can be found in Flickr.