Nanjing Drum Tower and Drum Tower Park Landmark Gulou, Yihe Road and Xinjiekou
NANJING DRUM TOWER AND DRUM TOWER PARK · NANJING GULOU
Gulou, Yihe Road and Xinjiekou · 32.061°N 118.777°E Free Closure day
The Ming drum tower that gave this district, and the roundabout beside it, their name. Built in 1382 on a knoll in the middle of Zhu Yuanzhang's new capital, it kept the city's time and staged receptions; the city records office describes the base as a 44-metre-long, 22-metre-wide walled platform with three arched passages and a flight of forty stone steps up each side. What sits on top is not Ming: the timber hall was lost, and after the Kangxi emperor climbed the platform in 1684 the local officials put a stele pavilion there instead, which is why Nanjing people say 'Ming drums, Qing stele'.
Read the full note Before you go This is a twenty-minute stop, not an afternoon, and the reason to make it is that it is free, central and the one Ming structure you will pass without planning to. Two things to get right. First, the hours are split: the park opens at 07:00 but the inside of the tower only at 08:00 and it shuts at 17:00, with clearing starting fifteen minutes before each closing - turn up at 17:30 for the view and you will be outside the building looking up. Second, the current hours are new. The park was shut for conservation from 16 June 2025 and reopened on 1 October 2025 with times the management office describes as adjusted, so anything published before autumn 2025 is wrong. The notice reached us only through a reprint of the district's official account - the park has no website - so if the timing is critical, ring 025-86634466 first. Something wrong here? Tell us → Not this Not the bell tower - that stood to the west and collapsed in the Kangxi period; the Dazhongting pavilion on the square dates from 1889. Not Beijing's or Xi'an's drum tower; the hall on top of this one is a Qing rebuild, not the Ming original. Hours · Tickets · Booking + Add to trip Admission Free Free; no bookingSecondhand source Hours Park 07:00-19:00; the tower's interior 08:00-17:00Secondhand source Closed None publishedSecondhand source ID None publishedNot independently verified — check official channels before you go Landmark Nanjing Drum Tower and Drum Tower Park (鼓楼公园，鼓楼广场西侧)
Address Drum Tower Park, west side of Gulou Square, Gulou District, Nanjing (南京市鼓楼区鼓楼广场西侧鼓楼公园)
Verified · 2024-06 Source ↗ Navigate ↗ Copy Entrance Gulou metro station puts you on the square; the park gate is on the far side of the tower from the roundabout, not under the arches
Last verified 2026-09-24 Source: platforms and press ⚑ Been recently and something changed? Tell us.
How to book None; walk in Secondhand source
Paying on site No ticket and no booking; the park's notice says visitors walk straight in
Language No English visitor information is published
How to visit Expand all (5) Tap any line for the details.
Outdoor park closes later than tower interior ▾ Enter free without advance booking ▾ Call park because reopening notices live on WeChat ▾ Do not mistake modern bell pavilion for Ming site ▾ Frame 1382 platform against modern Zifeng Tower ▾
Did you know Expand all (3) Tap any line for the details.
A 1382 platform that housed drum soldiers ▾ Ming drums, Qing stele explains the old name ▾ Traffic now circles it as a park ▾ Nanjing · 南京 · TripMind Atlas