The Himalayan Towers of China

 In western Sichuan province, between central China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region, hundreds of mysterious stone towers exist, some of them more than 200 feet high. They are spread across the valleys and foothills of the Himalayas, often clustering near villages where they have been repurposed as stables for yaks and ponies. Others have been abandoned and are in a state of disrepair; Their wooden stairs broke and the roof collapsed. Although they have apparently existed for centuries, the purpose and origins of these structures remain a mystery, and even local residents are unaware of their history.

The towers were first brought to the attention of the outside world by French explorer Frédéric Daragon, who went to Tibet in 1998 to research snow leopards, but instead fell under the spell of these mysterious structures. Darragon spent the next five years studying the towers. She counted them, mapped them, photographed them, and when possible even climbed them to collect samples of wood from the beams for analysis. But when he talked to people living around the towers, he was surprised to find that no one knew who had built them or for what purpose. The search for texts in local Buddhist monasteries was also fruitless. Although he found some references to the towers in some Chinese histories and the diaries of 19th-century European travelers to the area, no one made any effort to study them or solve the puzzle.

The lack of local knowledge about the origins of the towers may be due to the history and geography of the area. The area where the towers were found has historically been occupied by various mountain tribes, who have maintained isolation for centuries. Due to the diverse nature of their origins and the fragmented terrain in which they live, the languages and dialects they speak are quite different from each other. “Even from one valley to the next, the locals couldn't talk to each other,” Daragon says in a documentary called Secret Towers of the Himalayas, produced by her friend Michel Pessell. Daragon believes that knowledge of the towers may have previously been passed down through oral tradition, but has now been forgotten as dialects changed or disappeared.

The towers were first brought to the attention of the outside world by French explorer Frédéric Daragon, who went to Tibet in 1998 to research snow leopards, but instead fell under the spell of these mysterious structures. Darragon spent the next five years studying the towers. She counted them, mapped them, photographed them, and when possible even climbed them to collect samples of wood from the beams for analysis. But when he talked to people living around the towers, he was surprised to find that no one knew who had built them or for what purpose. The search for texts in local Buddhist monasteries was also fruitless. Although he found some references to the towers in some Chinese histories and the diaries of 19th-century European travelers to the area, no one made any effort to study them or solve the puzzle.

The lack of local knowledge about the origins of the towers may be due to the history and geography of the area. The area where the towers were found has historically been occupied by various mountain tribes, who have maintained isolation for centuries. Due to the diverse nature of their origins and the fragmented terrain in which they live, the languages and dialects they speak are quite different from each other. “Even from one valley to the next, the locals couldn't talk to each other,” Daragon says in a documentary called Secret Towers of the Himalayas, produced by her friend Michel Pessell. Daragon believes that knowledge of the towers may have previously been passed down through oral tradition, but has now been forgotten as dialects changed or disappeared.

These monumental structures were built using a mixture of cut stone, brick and wood and come in a variety of shapes including square, polygonal and star shaped with up to 12 vertices. They contain very little mortar and with wooden planks and beams spanning between stones, these strong structures are able to absorb the force of the violent shaking that accompanies earthquakes. Particularly the star-shaped construction which makes the structures less sensitive to shocks.

By radiocarbon dating the wood in the towers, Daragon determined that the towers were 600 to 1,000 years old. Daragon believes that the towers did not serve a single purpose, but their use varied from valley to valley. For example, at Minyak, she believes there were several watchtowers. She based her conclusions on such observations as the entrance being several stories above ground, and the towers' location where trade routes met. In Kongpo and Damba, towers appear to be primarily symbols of wealth and pride. According to one story, the towers were built by local people who grew rich by trading with Mongol-ruled China.

Many towers are now in an abandoned state. Dragon is working to get the towers listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This designation would potentially help raise funds to protect and restore the towers. She is also trying to take help from Sichuan University in studying the structures. In 2006, the stone towers were placed on the watch list of the World Monuments Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architectural and cultural heritage sites around the world.