---
node: spot_xian_giant_wild_goose_pagoda
type: spot
slug: giant_wild_goose_pagoda
destination: dest_xian
title: "Giant Wild Goose Pagoda"
lead: "The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is the 64-metre brick tower built in 652 to hold the sutras Xuanzang brought back from India. It is the surviving centre of Tang Chang'an and still an active Buddhist temple."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-17
image_file: spot_xian_giant_wild_goose_pagoda.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xian_2006_5-1.jpg"
image_author: "G41rn8"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

Xuanzang translated his manuscripts here after a seventeen-year journey, and the pagoda was raised at his request in the grounds of Da Ci'en Temple. Rebuilt in 704 and repaired many times since, it leans slightly and has survived earthquakes that flattened much else. The square plan and receding storeys are the Tang model that later pagodas across East Asia followed.

## Highlights

Climb the seven storeys for the view over the temple roofs and the modern city beyond. The north square below runs a large musical fountain on a set schedule, which is where the city gathers in the evening. The temple halls and the Xuanzang statue at the south gate are free of the pagoda's separate climbing fee.