Located on top of Baifo Mountain by the Baishui River four kilometres south of the county town of Jianshui, Wenbi Pagoda was built in 1828 during the Qing Dynasty. Like most fengshui pagodas, Wenbi Pagoda was constructed for the purpose of adding more charm to the landscape and promoting the development of culture. This solid structure of stones has no eaves or columns, no windows or doors, no canopy or beads usually seen on pagoda steeples. Viewed from a distance it looks like a huge column thrusting into the sky, similar to the monuments and pillars of ancient Egypt and Rome.
The pagoda has an irregular octagonal plan, which looks like a square with four corners cut off. It is designed so that the circumference of its base measures exactly the same as its height, 31.4 metres. Unique in shape and structure, Wenbi Pagoda is the most exceptional of all China's ancient pagodas.
