Tower of Buddhist Incense - Photo by Vin Crosbie

Tower of Buddhist Incense sits right in the centre of the front hill of Longevity Mountain. The tower was originally meant to be a nine-storey Buddhist pagoda built to resemble the Yellow Crane Tower. The Qianlong Emperor ordered the construction to be stopped just after the eighth storey was built. Empress Dowager Cixi visited the tower to offer incense and pray. The tower has amazing views of Kunming Lake, the rest of the palace grounds, and the surrounding mountains. (Haidian District, Beijing, China)