Sugong Pagoda

Sugong Pagoda (aka Emin Minaret) stands 2 kms southeast of Turpan City in Xijiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The Sugong Pagoda, known as the Turpan Pagoda among local residents is a Islamic building. A stone tablet at its entrance cites the reason for the pagoda's construction in Wei and Han characters. The structure was built in 1181 of the Hui calendar (1779) by Su Laiman II, the ruler of the Turpan Prefecture, to honor his father.

The cylindrical Sugong Pagoda rises to a height of 37 meters from a base measuring 10 meters in diameter. The pagoda's body was built entirely of brick blocks and the outer layer was laid with carvings and set in 15 patterns of decorative traditional Uygur designs, including diamond, hill, wave and four-petaled blossom patterns.

There are 14 windows in the pagoda, and inside, a seventy-two-step spiral staircase leads to the top. A brick, spiral pillar in the center supports its entire body. The pagoda stands near by a domed mosque with a spire which faces east. The pagoda displays the typical features of Uygur architecture. The local Uygur people say the mosque and the pagoda were designed by Ibrahim, a famous Uygur architect in the Qing Dynasty. It is said that there is no other pagoda built in this style anywhere else in China.

At the time of some traditional festivals, Muslem people push their way to the Sugong Pagoda to pray for blessing just like a pilgrimage.