Address: Beneath the cliff on the west bank of Qingtongxia Reservoir, 60 kilometers south of Yinchuan, Ningxia

The One Hundred and Eight Pagodas rank among China’s largest existing ancient pagoda groups. Perched beneath the cliff on the west bank of Qingtongxia Reservoir, 60 kilometers south of Yinchuan, the pagodas face east with mountains at their back and water in front. Silk manuscripts inscribed with Xixia characters and Buddhist relics were unearthed at their foundations. This cluster of solid Lama-style pagodas is believed to date back to the Western Xia Dynasty.

Following the mountain terrain, the pagodas are arranged in twelve rows from top to bottom in odd-numbered sequence: 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19. With a total of 108 pagodas, the whole complex forms a huge triangular layout, hence its name.

As a major ancient Lama pagoda group in China, it stands on the hillside of the reservoir’s west bank in Qingtongxia City, Ningxia. The pagodas are laid out in twelve tiers in ascending odd numbers from 1 up to 19. Each tier is fronted with a brick parapet, and the ground is paved with bricks, forming an equilateral triangular pagoda complex of 108 towers in total.

Its exact construction time remains unknown. Records in Unified Records of the Great Ming and Ningxia’s local chronicle New Records of the Hongzhi Reign once suggested it was built in the Yuan Dynasty. However, cultural relics uncovered during successive renovations — including Xixia silk paintings, painted sculptures, colored patterns and inscriptions — indicate that the pagoda group was most likely constructed in the Western Xia Dynasty. It underwent multiple restorations throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

In 1988, the State Council of the People's Republic of China designated it a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. In 2003, it was rated an AA-level tourist attraction by the Tourism Administration of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.