Location and form
The pagoda stands before Futu Temple, on the north side of Yangping Village in Xiaguan Town, Dali City, at the foot of Cangshan's Xiyang Peak. Yangnan Stream borders it to the north, and it lies three kilometers from Xiaguan to the south and about 500 m east of National Road 214. It is a thirteen-tier, dense-eave, square brick pagoda, 30.7 m tall. Its base is a two-level square platform; the lower level is 19.7 m on a side and 1.2 m high, built of rubble with dressed stone coping.
The name "Snake-Bone Pagoda"
Locals call it the Snake-Bone Pagoda, after a Bai folk tale of the hero Duan Chicheng who gave his life to slay a great python in Erhai Lake — the pagoda is said to have been raised with the serpent's bones in his honor.
On May 25, 2006, the State Council inscribed the pagoda as a key national protected cultural relic (6th batch).
