Timing the city - the drum and bell towers of Beijing

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While we now rely on our phones and watches to tell the time, hundreds of years ago, the central drum and bell towers of Beijing served the purpose of announcing the time to the city's residents. A group of drummers would play the large drums at the top of the tower on the hour, which visitors can now see with a ticket and brief jaunt up the steep steps. See both the drum and bell towers as well as the drummers in action together for 30 yuan, or separately for 20 yuan. Drumming shows currently run every hour starting at 9:30am, 10:30, and so on until 4:30pm. Expect some delays in most performances, as well as a gaggle of visitors with phones taking videos and photos. The drumming is spectacular though and rocks you to your core the closer you stand to the action.

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